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You can now create 3D scenes interactively with words - See How

You can now create 3D scenes interactively with words - See How

PLUS: Instantly Improve Your Photos’ Vibe with AI

Tezan Sahu & Sandra Anil
September 10th, 2024

Howdy fellas!

The AI marketplace is buzzing, and this week, Spark & Trouble are piecing together the latest game-changers in tech that'll keep you ahead of the curve.

Gif by sxsw on Giphy

Here’s a sneak peek into today’s edition 👀

Transform your QA testing with a simple prompt
Check out 3 amazing AI tools to streamline your workflows
Dive into this fascinating AI research to build complex 3D worlds with just text prompts
Change the mood of any photo with this cool AI hack

Time to jump in!😄

PS: Got thoughts on our content? Share 'em through a quick survey at the end of every edition It helps us see how our product labs, insights & resources are landing, so we can make them even better.

10x Your Workflow with AI 📈

Work smarter, not harder! In this section, you’ll find prompt templates 📜 & bleeding-edge AI tools ⚙️ to free up your time.

Fresh Prompt Alert!🚨

Ever feel like you're playing "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" with your test scenarios? Blindfolded and spinning, hoping to hit the mark?

Well, Spark and Trouble are here to rescue you from testing chaos! This week's Fresh Prompt is your secret weapon for crafting user-centric test cases that'll make QA teams swoon.

Ready to become a testing superhero? Let's dive in! 👇

I'm a business analyst tasked with developing comprehensive test scenarios for end-users to verify the fulfillment of requirements in our project.

Details: [description & features of the project]

I need guidance on creating user-centric test cases & scenarios that cover [key functionalities/user workflows] to ensure a thorough validation process.

Suggest best practices, along with actual tests that could prove beneficial.

* Replace the content in brackets with your details

3 AI Tools You JUST Can't Miss 🤩

💼 ResumeBoost AI - Craft a professional resume with the best AI resume builder
✒️ Rory - Your personal journaling & happiness AI
🗡️ ConsoleX AI - Streamline workflows, boost productivity, and transform your AI innovation with this Swiss army knife for AI products

Hot off the Wires 🔥

We're eavesdropping on the smartest minds in research. 🤫 Don't miss out on what they're cooking up! In this section, we dissect some of the juiciest tech research that holds the key to what's next in tech.⚡

Remember the awe-inspiring landscapes of Pandora in "Avatar" or the intricate fantasy worlds of "The Witcher 3"? Those scenes transport us to magical realms, leaving us in awe of their creators' imagination and artistry. But what if you could conjure up such breathtaking vistas simply by describing them? 🌄

Enter "Build-a-Scene" (BAS), a groundbreaking AI technology developed by researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. BAS is revolutionizing how we interact with AI-generated imagery, bridging the gap between imagination and reality through interactive 3D layout control.

Demo of “Build-a-Scene” in action (source: BAS project page)

Forging the Fundamentals

Before we dive into the magic of BAS, let's break down some key terms:

T2I Diffusion Models: These are AI models that generate images from text descriptions Think of them as digital artists that paint based on your words. To know more about the exact process of converting random noise into images that depict a textual description through the description process, check out our earlier edition.

Layout Control: This allows users to specify where each element should be placed in the generated image. It's like being the director of your own digital movie set!

Training-Free Approach: A technique that avoids the complexities of fine-tuning a model by performing "zero-shot" inferences. Imagine an AI that can understand new tasks without needing examples – pretty impressive, right?

Self-Attention: Self-attention focuses on the input and highlights important parts within it that could be useful for generating the next piece of content. In diffusion models, this approach suggests that the target image will query the reference image for style, resulting in a consistent style between the two images.

So, what’s new?

Now, you might wonder, "Haven't we seen text-to-image generators before?" True, but existing approaches have some limitations:

They struggle with object count, placement, and relationships
They're often limited to 2D, static layouts
Some use depth for conditioning but falter with complex scenes
They can't preserve objects when layouts change (like zooming or moving things around)

Enter Build-a-Scene, stage left! 🎭

BAS takes an interactive approach, allowing users to start with an empty canvas and progressively add elements using 3D layout controls and text prompts. It's like building with LEGO blocks, but instead of plastic bricks, you're using words and imagination!

Under the hood…

BAS combines depth conditioning for layout control with something called "dynamic self-attention (DSA)". This powerful duo allows seamless object addition while preserving existing scene contents.

Here's a bird’s-eye-view of how the BAS magic unfolds:

Start with a blank 3D playground and generate a background based on your initial prompt.
Add 3D boxes to the scene, describing each with text.
BAS segments the foreground/background and applies its diffusion process to bring your description to life within the box.
New objects integrate seamlessly thanks to "Dynamic Self-Attention," which ensures style consistency.
Want to move things around? No problem! "Consistent 3D Translation" allows objects to be repositioned while maintaining their identity.

Overall pipeline of “Build-a-Scene” to add & translate one object in a scene (source: BAS paper)

Let's peek behind the curtain at these innovative techniques:

Dynamic Self-Attention

On adding a new 3D box in the scene, BAS augments the previous stage's image with the current stage's masked window during attention computation.
This forces the diffusion model to maintain overall style while allowing new elements to shine.
It works as a plug-and-play approach – no fine-tuning needed!

Consistent 3D Translation

On trying to move a 3D box in the scene, BAS identifies and ‘segments out’ the object from the background
It creates a refined outline of the object, "warps" the object to fit its new position using 3D coordinates and then converts this warped image into a latent representation by adding noise
The object is blended into its new position by using a linear combination of the latents of the older stage & the warped stage to perform denoising & generate the final image

This process maintains object details and scene consistency, ensuring natural seamless integration, as shown below:

Why does this matter?

BAS outperforms previous methods in object accuracy and consistency, even when layouts change. But it isn't just about creating pretty pictures. Its potential applications are vast and exciting:

Game Development: Imagine game designers rapidly prototyping environments for the next big RPG or open-world adventure. Companies like Ubisoft or CD Projekt Red could use BAS to visualize and iterate on game worlds faster than ever before.

Architecture and Interior Design: Firms like Gensler or HOK could use BAS to quickly generate and modify 3D visualizations of buildings or room layouts based on client descriptions.

Film and VFX: Studios like Industrial Light & Magic could use BAS for rapid concept art generation or pre-visualization of complex scenes.

Virtual Reality: Companies like Meta could integrate BAS into their VR content creation tools, allowing users to build immersive environments with simple voice commands.

E-commerce: Imagine IKEA's AR app, but supercharged. Customers could describe their ideal room setup and see it come to life in 3D, with products seamlessly integrated.

Education: Interactive learning platforms could use BAS to create dynamic, explorable 3D environments for history, science, or geography lessons.

As we wrap up, picture a future where your words paint entire worlds, where creativity flows seamlessly from mind to screen. With technologies like Build-a-Scene, that future might be closer than we think.

So, the next time you're lost in the stunning vistas of your favourite game or movie, remember – soon, you might be the one bringing such magical scenes to life, one word at a time!

Spark 'n' Trouble Shenanigans 😜

What do you think gives a photo its ‘vibe’? Answers may vary, but Spark & Trouble feel that the ‘lighting’ has a huge role to play.

And, of late, they’ve been hooked to a fascinating AI tool that allows you to relight any image in a click, with freakishly awesome consistency, by just using a text prompt to specify the desired lighting.

The tool is called IC-Light, which stands for ‘Imposing Consistent Light’ - well it’s a clever wordplay that also sounds like “I see light”!

Check out some of the cool variations that are possible with this project: