Meta Releases New AI Features to Make ‘Horizon Worlds’ Development Easier

By
Scott Hayden
-
7

Meta just released a few new generative AI features for its Horizon Worlds desktop editor, which the company says will streamline the development of user-generated environments on its metaverse platform.

As mentioned in a Meta blog post, the latest Horizon Worlds developer update includes two major tools that should help boost content on the platform: ‘Creator Assistant’ and ‘Style Reference’, which Meta says are designed to accelerate and simplify the world-building process for creators.

Creator Assistant is essentially an AI-powered co-pilot of sorts, offering what Meta calls “context-aware” documentation, automated setup support, and the ability to brainstorm and generate scripts using natural language.

Image courtesy Meta

Meta says its new Creator Assistant is intended to reduce the time and complexity involved in prototyping and iterating Horizon Worlds experiences, making the development process more accessible to solo or small developer teams.

The update’s second major feature, Style Reference, lets users generate, save, and apply consistent visual and audio styles across multiple assets and projects—something Meta says will help creators “focus on creativity and experimentation, rather than repetitive setup tasks.”

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The update also expands access to Meta’s GenAI suite beyond its core markets. Creators in India, Singapore, Vietnam, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and much of the EU can now use the tools, with more more regions to follow.

Additionally, the Horizon Worlds editor now includes a few more AI-powered features, such as 3D mesh and texture generation, typescript code creation, sky and audio generation for sound effects and ambient environments. You can check out more over on the Gen AI help guide to see all of its current features.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • VRDeveloper

    I understand why they're investing in this. After all, everyone is. I just hope they don’t stop funding more serious projects. I feel like the more Meta Quest is pushed toward the casual side, the less engagement the platform gets from people who are actually willing to spend money on good games.. Games like Into the Radius 2, for example, don’t seem to perform as well as they should. Correct me if I’m wrong, but given the quality of that game, I expected it to be an astronomical success, even in early access. And seeing it perform much worse than on Steam makes me wonder if now is the time for us devs to abandon Meta Quest and refocus on Steam. What you think guys?

    • Arno van Wingerde

      Hm… the thing is that it is a platform: is iOS exclusively for some group or another? But Worlds is, or will be, actually a "Facebook" evolution, so I can see why Meta is pushing this. For now, Quest provides the largest user base and best headset for the price. You can use it standalone, or if you need more power, as a Steam headset. I for one do not have a gaming PC, best i can do is PSVR2. Look how that set, in spite of its smaller user base ends up getting upgraded Quest games or PCVR games. I think the time for Steam may come with Deckard if Valve makes a good concept.

      • VRDeveloper

        I also think a lot about the Deckard. I imagine the player base will be small since it will be a very expensive product, but you never know. The point of my comment was more about how it seems like the Meta Quest has become something for kids… and adults, how are we supposed to reach them if there's nothing drawing them to the headset? That's the point.

        How are we supposed to make a good game, something expensive, without adults willing to pay for a premium experience? That’s the issue. That’s what makes me believe that the Meta Quest is more suited for live service casual silly games, while Steam is more recommended for truly good and deep games.

  • Paul Bellino

    The only way to make Horizon worlds any good is to get rid of all the little Idiots running around in there…..

    • Arno van Wingerde

      … or instead make worlds where you only have access if you fulfill the requirements. You could even make something that is "for men, age 60+, living in North America and being devout Catholics and into collecting baseball cards… ".

  • xyzs

    We don't want Horizon world.
    We want a clean, modern, agnostic OS, with a few useful and well made default apps, ready to welcome any third party app through a well designed store.

    • JB1968

      Well, although you may not hear the MOBILE word in “standalone VR” term they use the experience with this platform will always be of MOBILE quality. Basically same crap as any Android cellphone including the glitchy OS and F2P games and showelware.

      And same as nobody pays for and plays great looking and pc/console quality games on MOBILE cellphones nobody will pay and play such games on MOBILE headsets.

      So, in the end this whole “standalone VR” segment became pile of VR F2P and showelware with XR overlay full of ads and all this under surveilance of your very own personal AI assistant. And masses will just buy new “standalone headset” every 2 years same as they do with cellphones.Yeah, better hardware every time but for what? Same as beeter cellphone for what? Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram shit?

      That’s the plan Meta is aiming since they bought Oculus and ditched the PCVR. Who thought their intentions are to spread the good part of Virtual Reality idea was simply naive and sold all this for cheap piece of “standalone” hardware.