3D Design App the room Just landed more funds. has been launched In beta in 2023The app by former Google employees allows users to create and code interactive 3D rooms and mini-games using a library of more than 10,000 items, which can be further edited using the programming language Lua.
Now, Google itself has invested $1 million in the app as part of a partnership deal that offers Rooms early access to Google's Gemini AI.
Founded by ex-Googlers including Jason Toff, Bruno Oliveira, and Nick Cruz, who have backgrounds in AR/VR, games, and YouTube, Rooms offers a way to create mini 3D spaces, as well as a TikTok-like experience for browsing those spaces. In a vertical feed. Part creative outlet and part introduction to coding, this experience allows “room” creators to express themselves through digital art that can be remixed by others into their own created rooms.
Initially, creators were creating simple spaces and mini-games using the technology, but recent trends have seen people creating larger spaces and using apps to tell stories, Toff told TechCrunch.
An example of this trend comes from a user named eodqueenWho first created standard rooms and later started creating larger spaces by weaving in animation and interactivity.
The app itself was updated to version 3.0 on November 26, 2024 with a new Action editor which allows users to bring their rooms to life without having to code. Soon, Rooms plans to leverage its access to Gemini to further enhance the in-app experience with a text-to-speech mode.
Thanks to integration with Gemini 2.0 Flash, creators will be able to add description And Characters will be able to speakwhich will enable extensive storytelling
Creators will even be able to choose what kind of tone characters should use when speaking, such as angry, annoyed, calm, confident, enthusiastic, happy, excited, and others. display Features published by Room on YouTube.
Things, Inc., the company behind Rooms, announced that it has surpassed 1 million rooms built on the platform and now has more than 10,000 things and objects available in its inventory for designing these small, digital spaces. The latter emerged from over 7,500 digital items As of April 2024.
The startup isn't sharing any updates around user numbers or engagement times, however last year The room has grown to one million registered users.
The funding, which closed in December, came from Google itself (not GV, Alphabet's venture arm) and was structured as a SAFE, which gives Google the ability to invest in the next round of Rooms, the startup ahead of its Series A. Raised $10 million Seed funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Adobe's Chief Strategy Officer and Scott Belsky, VP of Design and Emerging Products, as well as Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger.
the room Currently available on the web and on iOS. It hasn't started monetization yet.