Metaverse project, AlterVerse, has a central hub, Sky City, which now has a new feature added to its beta: the NPCs are now AI-sentient and you can hold a conversation with them.
This is the sort of article that will age tremendously poorly. AlterVerse is one of the earliest 3D metaverses and it is using an early form of AI in its NPCs. At the time of writing this, that blend of blockchain and AI NPCs is about as novel as it gets; I’m not sure anyone else has done this yet.
Token Gamer, although born out of the belief that blockchain technology will be a major evolution point for gaming, has had no choice but to integrate AI into its editorial scope. Both blockchain and AI are going to drive gaming forward in ways we can scarcely imagine, and writing about it every day is a pleasure as we track the progress. This latest piece of news has a foot in both camps, however.
AlterVerse Launches Onboarding AI in Sky City
AlterVerse is a metaverse project and game creation platform utilizing Unreal Engine 5, with the central hub being Sky City — a meeting point for players with shops, housing, mini-games, and more. Sky City has recently entered its closed beta phase and among the fundamental elements that are being tested, there is now a new feature: AI NPCs.
The AI NPCs are created in collaboration with Convai, an NVIDIA Inception startup. Convai make AI NPCs for virtual worlds that allow various uses, including assistants, FAQs, “digital humans”, and more, all in a conversational format. The tech is certainly appealing and the applications are numerous, though at present, their avatars are so deep in Uncanny Valley that they make my skin itch.
The first use of Convai’s AI NPCs in Sky City will be for onboarding purposes, where the AI aids in the process, as well as leveling up player skills. The shops in Sky City will also have the option of AI-powered shopkeepers that can be customized to the relevant brand. Finally, any developers looking to build a game in the AlterVerse with the metaverse’s tools and SDKs will have the ability to integrate Convai’s AI NPCs in their own game.
Final Thoughts
To be direct: AI NPCs is where gaming is heading, and I’m looking forward to it. Games such as GTA V with its bustling but soulless cities will suddenly have tens of thousands of little AI lives happening. There are many implications, but on balance, this is a major advancement for the space. AlterVerse and Convai’s partnership to implement a version now is exactly what cutting edge often looks like: impressive and novel, but will age poorly. It is the earliest iteration of what will become the norm and that deserves praise.
AlterVerse is an ambitious web3 project that we have followed for some time and we need more people like those behind it: relentlessly innovating, pushing what’s possible.
