The World Engines Lab is a creative research collective constructing virtual game worlds that serve as sandboxes for investigating human-AI interaction. Led by Delta_Ark Studios and incubated at Gray Area, the World Engines Lab is developing a persistent multiplayer simulation platform populated with autonomous artificially intelligent agents. Artist-researchers in the Lab are utilizing this simulated world to articulate alternative narratives of human-agent interaction through hybrid performance integrating motion capture with the game engine.
World Engines Lab
with Delta_Ark Studios
Impact
As autonomous agents become more prevalent in our current media, urban, industrial and military landscapes, humans will need to develop a much deeper understanding of how to engage with them, think with/of them and criticize them. Humans will also have to develop new ideas about responsibility, autonomy and identity as these machines automate cognitive processes that formerly were only embodied in human (and animal) bodies. Consequently, The World Engines Lab is building a cutting edge simulation along with concomitant artworks born directly from within it in order to promote agentic literacy by exploring the role of autonomous machines in everyday life in the near, medium and far future.
Techniques
The studio has currently created:
(1) A dedicated server that hosts a persistent game world.
(2) Integration with the ConvAI agent-based system for LLM-based dialogue and actions.
(3) Integration with Radical Motion single camera motion capture, enabling artists to perform live in-world or in hybrid formats.
Simulation Sessions
Simulation Sessions is a free monthly event series facilitated by the World Engines Lab, incubated at Gray Area. In response to the growing prevalence and sophistication of virtual simulations and environments, these sessions seek to sustain a local community of 3D designers, artists, and technologists, facilitate peer teaching and learning, and spark dialogue about the social, cultural, and political dimensions of building digital worlds.
All, regardless of skill or experience level, are welcome to attend and bring their current projects (in any 3D platform, including Unreal, Unity, Godot, Three.js, Babylon.js, Rhino, Blender, Houdini, Spline, Womp, TouchDesigner, Custom 3DAI tools, and more).
Each session begins promptly at 6pm with a brief talk or mini-workshop led by a member of the community. At 6:30pm, participants are invited to work on projects, seek technical advice, mingle, and meet others engaged in the practice of building simulations. Feel free to arrive at any time between 6:00 and 9:00pm.
To RSVP for the next Simulation Session, visit our events page, or subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed about upcoming sessions.
ML Agents Study Group
The ML Agents Study Group is a free monthly event series facilitated by the World Engines Lab, incubated at Gray Area. The group is focused on agentic, social and embodied machine learning, with a specific focus on engineering projects and prototypes (as distinct from startups). We spend the first hour reviewing papers (e.g. Voyager, Karpathy’s LLM Startup Tutorial, Stanford Westworld Paper, etc.) and the second hour is a study session where attendees work on their own individual projects. All are welcome, regardless of skill level, as long as there is interest in agent frameworks.
