London-based AI lab Odyssey has launched a research preview of a model transforming video into interactive worlds. Initially focusing on world models for film and game production, the Odyssey team has stumbled onto potentially a completely new entertainment medium.The interactive video generated by Odyssey’s AI model responds to inputs in real-time. You can interact with it using your keyboard, phone, controller, or eventually even voice commands. The folks at Odyssey are billing it as an “early version of the Holodeck.”The underlying AI can generate realistic-looking video frames every 40 milliseconds. That means when you press a button or make a gesture, the video responds almost instantly—creating the illusion that you’re actually influencing this digital world.“The experience today feels like exploring a glitchy dream—raw, unstable, but undeniably new,” according to Odyssey. We’re not talking about polished, AAA-game quality visuals here, at least not yet.Not your standard video techLet’s get a bit technical for a moment. What makes this AI-generated interactive video tech different from, say, a standard video game or CGI? It all comes down to something Odyssey calls a “world model.”Unlike traditional video models that generate entire clips in one go, world models work frame-by-frame to predict what should come next based on the current state and any user inputs. It’s similar to how large language models predict the next word in a sequence, but infinitely more complex because we’re talking about high-resolution video frames rather than words.“A world model is, at its core, an action-conditioned dynamics model,” as Odyssey puts it. Each time you interact, the model takes the current state, your action, and the history of what’s happened, then generates the next video frame accordingly.The result is something that feels more organic and unpredictable than a traditional game. There’s no pre-programmed logic saying “if a player does X, then Y happens”—instead, the AI is making its best guess at what should happen next based on what it’s learned from watching countless videos.Odyssey tackles historic challenges with AI-generated videoBuilding something like this isn’t exactly a walk in the park. One of the biggest hurdles with AI-generated interactive video is keeping it stable over time. When you’re generating each frame based on previous ones, small errors can compound quickly (a phenomenon AI researchers call “drift.”)To tackle this, Odyssey has used what they term a “narrow distribution model”—essentially pre-training their AI on general video footage, then fine-tuning it on a smaller set of environments. This trade-off means less variety but better stability so everything doesn’t become a bizarre mess.The company says they’re already making “fast progress” on their next-gen model, which apparently shows “a richer range of pixels, dynamics, and actions.”Running all this fancy AI tech in real-time isn’t cheap. Currently, the infrastructure powering this experience costs between £0.80-£1.60 (1-2) per user-hour, relying on clusters of H100 GPUs scattered across the US and EU.That might sound expensive for streaming video, but it’s remarkably cheap compared to producing traditional game or film content. And Odyssey expects these costs to tumble further as models become more efficient.Interactive video: The next storytelling medium?Throughout history, new technologies have given birth to new forms of storytelling—from cave paintings to books, photography, radio, film, and video games. Odyssey believes AI-generated interactive video is the next step in this evolution.If they’re right, we might be looking at the prototype of something that will transform entertainment, education, advertising, and more. Imagine training videos where you can practice the skills being taught, or travel experiences where you can explore destinations from your sofa.The research preview available now is obviously just a small step towards this vision and more of a proof of concept than a finished product. However, it’s an intriguing glimpse at what might be possible when AI-generated worlds become interactive playgrounds rather than just passive experiences.You can give the research preview a try here.See also: Telegram and xAI forge Grok AI dealWant to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including Intelligent Automation Conference, BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

Silverhand Member Oct 26, 2023 3,035 AC Odysseys real ending was in the DLC. Is Valhalla the same way or can I just play the base game? I put in over 200 hours in Odyssey before I had to force myself to just do story missions. I'm trying to keep that in mind for Valhalla. Will I handicap mysel by not collecting all the treasure and mysteries etc? How about mini games? Already the rhyming one seems important. Is Mirage something I will need to play? Thanks!  StrangerDanger Member Jul 18, 2018 6,694 200 hours wtf.... i guess multiply that by 4 for Valhalla. The definite ending is part of a free DLC called "The Last Chapter" for the game.   UnluckyKate Member Oct 25, 2017 11,906 I'd recommend Ireland and Paris DLCs if you enjoy the main gameplay and characters but you can ask yourself this question in 50 hours. Have fun. Don't linger too much in Norway, don't burn yourself on completion, just push through at your own pace and do what you feel like doing. No random drop in this game, everything is unique so go explore.  nihilence nøthing but silence Moderator Oct 25, 2017 18,947 From 'quake area to big OH. Mirage didn't seem to add anything memorable.   Arsene no Kiseki Member Oct 25, 2017 5,619 Canada I bought all the DLC for Valhalla but by the time I finished the base game + free epilogue DLC I was too burnt out to even look at the paid DLC. You should probably just wait until you finish the base game first lol.   Son of Sparda "This guy are sick" says The Wise Ones Member Oct 25, 2017 17,285 do I need the DLC? Click to expand... Click to shrink... God no. I forced myself through the first DLC and it was super mediocre. Didn't even bother with the rest of the season pass stuff even though I owned them. For reference I platinum'd Odyssey and finished and really enjoyed all of its DLCs. Valhalla just gets very boring after the first 20 or so hours.  dancingphlower Member Oct 27, 2017 13,201 I found Mirage to be the better game tbh   coldzone24 Member Oct 27, 2017 920 Cleveland, OH If Odyssey took you 200 hours, good luck with Valhalla. I finished the first two DLCs, but couldn't bring myself to do the big Ragnarok expansion. There is just too much game.  Xalbur Member Mar 30, 2019 716 You don't NEED the DLCs but they are pretty fun and add some decent variety to the adventure, story wise they are pretty much just side content. The Ragnarok DLC was a bit of a miss for me personally but might be fun if you really like the mythical stuff. I think you can wait until you are further into the game to decide if you want more, the game is already very long (too long in fact). Mirage doesn't really add anything to Valhalla's story, I found it to be worse than Valhalla and I'm already not a huge fan of it, worst of the RPG games.  carlsojo Shinra Employee Member Oct 28, 2017 37,544 San Francisco Ireland was pretty fun and self-contained.   Hasney One Winged Slayer The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 23,201 I liked the Ireland and France DLC packs. The free ending DLC was the most unsatisfying shit I have ever played, both in terms of the "gameplay" addition and the story content. It honestly would have been better to just leave it open ended.  OP OP Silverhand Member Oct 26, 2023 3,035 StrangerDanger said: 200 hours wtf.... i guess multiply that by 4 for Valhalla. The definite ending is part of a free DLC called "The Last Chapter" for the game. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I never left an area until I cleared all the markers. Then more would pop up!  beanman Member Apr 11, 2025 42 Arsene no Kiseki said: I bought all the DLC for Valhalla but by the time I finished the base game + free epilogue DLC I was too burnt out to even look at the paid DLC. You should probably just wait until you finish the base game first lol. Click to expand... Click to shrink... This is exactly what happened to me. Paid for the season pass and never touched any of the content from it. The base game and free epilogue DLC wraps up the story nicely. Thank god I didn't pay for the additional DLC centered around the mythic stuff, I'd be even more annoyed with myself in that case.  Linus815 Member Oct 29, 2017 24,082 Ireland and Paris are worth it, great DLC's.   Eevea Member Sep 23, 2022 456 The Ireland and Paris DLCs are good. But I didn't care for the Ragnarok DLC all that much. You don't need the DLCs right away though. You can get them at the end of the main story if you want and see if you still want more game. I wanted to spend as much time as I could in the world though. Female Eivor is my fav mc they have done of the AC games I've played(which is just the modern ones admittedly).  OP OP Silverhand Member Oct 26, 2023 3,035 Ive gotten to the town and talked to the Jarl and reunited with my "brother". I have a weird feeling due to the guy/girl thing and stuff like having a Raven and Odin Sight, I am either Odin or possibly Loki.  OP OP Silverhand Member Oct 26, 2023 3,035 So I just arrived in England. So the game isn't even really set in Norway? That's kind of disappointing. Having fun with it though. I kind of miss Odyssey. Loved the setting, everything looked amazing! And Black Flag (isnt there a remake coming?). I sort of need to play the Enzio stuff as well. And Syndicate?  OP OP Silverhand Member Oct 26, 2023 3,035 In England. Game is boring as hell. Was Origin and Odyssey like this and I just don't remember? I remember like both of them. Loved Odyssey. Valhalla has no interesting characters. I don't even know what the plot is aside from "Upgrade the town and make friends with other leaders". When do I go Assassin Creeding? I mean yeah I can but so far I was just handed a stealth blade for next to no reason and told to go have fun. So far the actual Assassin stuff seems regulated to a side quest AFTER I build his house in the town. Again, am I misremembering the previous 2 games and actually becoming an Assassin? So far Im just a Viking who stealths good.  Walker_Boh Member Oct 25, 2017 2,370 Boise, Idaho Silverhand said: In England. Game is boring as hell. Was Origin and Odyssey like this and I just don't remember? I remember like both of them. Loved Odyssey. Valhalla has no interesting characters. I don't even know what the plot is aside from "Upgrade the town and make friends with other leaders". When do I go Assassin Creeding? I mean yeah I can but so far I was just handed a stealth blade for next to no reason and told to go have fun. So far the actual Assassin stuff seems regulated to a side quest AFTER I build his house in the town. Again, am I misremembering the previous 2 games and actually becoming an Assassin? So far Im just a Viking who stealths good. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Soonish. Valhalla's start is extremely slow and the plot felt half baked. It's the worst of the RPG AC games.   Eoin Member Oct 27, 2017 7,260 Silverhand said: Game is boring as hell. Was Origin and Odyssey like this and I just don't remember? Click to expand... Click to shrink... No, I would say not. Compared to Valhalla, Origins was a more focused game with a better idea of what it wanted to achieve with its setting, characters and game mechanics. Compared to Valhalla, Odyssey was a more varied and interesting rollercoaster with a ton of mechanical depth and flexibility.   Atom Member Jul 25, 2021 15,302 Welcome to AC Valhalla.   ResinPeasant93 Member Apr 24, 2024 2,450 I liked Valhalla fine but I spaced that thing over the period of months, and that seemed to be the right call. Don't try to cram it, thats my advice.   Linus815 Member Oct 29, 2017 24,082 Silverhand said: In England. Game is boring as hell. Was Origin and Odyssey like this and I just don't remember? I remember like both of them. Loved Odyssey. Valhalla has no interesting characters. I don't even know what the plot is aside from "Upgrade the town and make friends with other leaders". When do I go Assassin Creeding? I mean yeah I can but so far I was just handed a stealth blade for next to no reason and told to go have fun. So far the actual Assassin stuff seems regulated to a side quest AFTER I build his house in the town. Again, am I misremembering the previous 2 games and actually becoming an Assassin? So far Im just a Viking who stealths good. Click to expand... Click to shrink... you were never an assassin in Odyssey lol  Josh5890 I'm Your Favorite Poster's Favorite Poster The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 26,460 I managed to get through AC Valhalla, but I couldn't imagine going back for the DLC. The main campaign was longer than it had any right to be.   MrBS "This guy are sick" Member Oct 27, 2017 6,739 I forgot I played the Ireland and Paris DLC until it was mentioned now. Then you've got Ragnarok expansion after that. I think I'm at 300hrs for Valhalla. Mirage being a 50 hr game to 100% was a nice change of pace.