Fasten your seatbelts. NVIDIA Research is revving up a new deep learning engine that creates 3D object models from standard 2D images - and can bring iconic cars like the Knight Rider's AI-powered KITT to life - in NVIDIA Omniverse.
Developed by the NVIDIA AI Research Lab in Toronto, the GANverse3D application inflates flat images into realistic 3D models that can be visualized and controlled in virtual environments. This capability could help architects, creators, game developers and designers easily add new objects to their mockups without needing expertise in 3D modeling, or a large budget to spend on renderings.
A single photo of a car, for example, could be turned into a 3D model that can drive around a virtual scene, complete with realistic headlights, tail lights and blinkers.
To generate a dataset for training, the researchers harnessed a generative adversarial network, or GAN, to synthesize images depicting the same object from multiple viewpoints - like a photographer who walks around a parked vehicle, taking shots from different angles. These multi-view images were plugged into a rendering framework for inverse graphics, the process of inferring 3D mesh models from 2D images.
Once trained on multi-view images, GANverse3D needs only a single 2D image to predict a 3D mesh model. This model can be used with a 3D neural renderer that gives developers control to customize objects and swap out backgrounds.
When imported as an extension in the NVIDIA Omniverse platform and run on NVIDIA RTX GPUs, GANverse3D can be used to recreate any 2D image into 3D - like the beloved crime-fighting car KITT, from the popular 1980s Knight Rider TV show.
Previous models for inverse graphics have relied on 3D shapes as training data.
Instead, with no aid from 3D assets, We turned a GAN model into a very efficient data generator so we can create 3D objects from any 2D image on the web, said Wenzheng Chen, research scientist at NVIDIA and lead author on the project.
Because we trained on real images instead of the typical pipeline, which relies on synthetic data, the AI model generalizes better to real-world applications, said NVIDIA researcher Jun Gao, an author on the project.
The research behind GANverse3D will be presented at two upcoming conferences: the International Conference on Learning Representations in May, and the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, in June.
From Flat Tire to Racing KITT Creators in gaming, architecture and design rely on virtual environments like the NVIDIA Omniverse simulation and collaboration platform to test out new ideas and visualize prototypes before creating their final products. With Omniverse Connectors, developers can use their preferred 3D applications in Omniverse to simulate complex virtual worlds with real-time ray tracing.
But not every creator has the time and resources to create 3D models of every object they sketch. The cost of capturing the number of multi-view images necessary to render a showroom's worth of cars, or a street's worth of buildings, can be prohibitive.
That's where a trained GANverse3D application can be used to convert standard images of a car, a building or even a horse into a 3D figure that can be customized and animated in Omniverse.
To recreate KITT, the researchers simply fed the trained model an image of the car, letting GANverse3D predict a corresponding 3D textured mesh, as well as different parts of the vehicle such as wheels and headlights. They then used NVIDIA Omniverse Kit and NVIDIA PhysX tools to convert the predicted texture into high-quality materials that give KITT a more realistic look and feel, and placed it in a dynamic driving sequence.
Omniverse allows researchers to bring exciting, cutting-edge research directly to creators and end users, said Jean-Francois Lafleche, deep learning engineer at NVIDIA. Offering GANverse3D as an extension in Omniverse will help artists create richer virtual worlds for game development, city planning or even training new machine learning models.
GANs Power a Dimensional Shift Because real-world datasets that capture the same object from different angles are rare, most AI tools that convert images from 2D to 3D are trained using synthetic 3D datasets like ShapeNet.
To obtain multi-view images from real-world data - like images of cars available publicly on the web - the NVIDIA researchers instead turned to a GAN model, manipulating its neural network layers to turn it into a data generator.
The team found that opening the first four layers of the neural network and freezing the remaining 12 caused the GAN to render images of the same object from different viewpoints.
Keeping the first four layers frozen and the other 12 layers variable caused the neural network to generate different images from the same viewpoint. By manually assigning standard viewpoints, with vehicles pictured at a specific elevation and camera distance, the researchers could rapidly generate a multi-view dataset from individual 2D images.
The final model, trained on 55,000 car images generated by the GAN, outperformed an inverse graphics network trained on the popular Pascal3D dataset.
Read the full ICLR paper, authored by Wenzheng Chen, fellow NVIDIA researchers Jun Gao and Huan Ling, Sanja Fidler, director of NVIDIA's Toronto research lab, University of Waterloo student Yuxuan Zhang, Stanford student Yinan Zhang and MIT professor Antonio Torralba. Additional collaborators on the CVPR paper include Jean-Francois Lafleche, NVIDIA researcher Kangxue Yin and Adela Barriuso.
The NVIDIA Research team consists of more than 200 scientists around the globe, focusing on areas such as AI, computer vision, self-driving cars, robotics and graphics. Learn more about the company's latest research and industry breakthroughs in NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's k
North America Stories
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
How Chris Bolte Builds the Sound of PlayStation Games Chris Bolte '16 is a technical sound designer at Sucker Punch Productions, where he helps create the...
18/03/2026
Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4.
Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...
18/03/2026
SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...
18/03/2026
The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...
18/03/2026
(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...
18/03/2026
SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations
Brie Clayton March 18, 2026
0 Comments
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...
18/03/2026
Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K
Brie Clayton March 18, 2026
0 Comments
LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...
18/03/2026
Brainstorm transforms productivity and sustainability with Suite 7 at NAB Show 2...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, today unveiled its educational presentations for the 2026 NAB Show. This year SMPTE will ...
18/03/2026
Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, gaming, and more, today ann...
18/03/2026
Digital Alert Systems
Preview
2026 NAB Show
April 19 - 22
Booth C3452
At the 2026 NAB Show, Digital Alert Systems will showcase Version 6.0 of its DASDEC ...
18/03/2026
Setplex today announced that it will showcase its complete, fully integrated Zapflex platform for the first time at the 2026 NAB Show, introducing powerful new ...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking DP for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Director of Photography for Low Budget Dramedy Fe...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking Gaffer for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Gaffer for Low Budget Dramedy Feature Film- I...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking Location, Sound for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Location/Sound for Low Budget Dramed...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking Child Wrangler for Low Budget Film - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Child Wrangler for Low Budget Dramedy Fe...
18/03/2026
Calrec Redefines Broadcast Workflows at NAB 2026 with its Most Powerful Hardware...
18/03/2026
Oscar Nominated Two People Exchanging Saliva Posted with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio handle...
18/03/2026
Boston Conservatory Presents Celebrated Musical Satire Urinetown Performances for this Center Stage production will take place at Boston Conservatory Theater ...
18/03/2026
Charlie Puth Joins Switched on Pop at Berklee NYC The Berklee alum spoke with host and Berklee NYC professor Charlie Harding for a live taping, answering audi...
18/03/2026
Back to All News
Preparatevi Alla Terza E Ultima Stagione De La Legge di Lidia ...
18/03/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Drops Teaser and First Look Images for The Chestnut M...
17/03/2026
NASA+'s Rebecca Sirmons and Brittany Brown offer unique look at live streami...
17/03/2026
The transition to IP has fundamentally reshaped professional media infrastructures. Video, audio, and increasingly metadata now circulate as independent, precis...
17/03/2026
Live sports streaming can push every element in your video delivery chain to its limit, exposing every potential weakness in seconds. When the Super Bowl, the O...
17/03/2026
Texas Athletics sought to modernize its media production, enhance fan experience...
17/03/2026
Ikegami USA will demonstrate the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast...
17/03/2026
TNA Wrestling and iHeartMedia announces a new multi-platform collaboration that will integrate iHeartMedia across TNA's premium live events, weekly televisi...
17/03/2026
The goal was to transform Hard Rock Stadium into a global leader in sports and e...
17/03/2026
Spectrum has announced the launch of its new Multiview feature in the Spectrum TV App, giving customers the ability to watch up to four NCAA men's or women&...
17/03/2026
Genius Sports deal also covers data technology, AI, fan engagement, and performance analysis....
17/03/2026
Net Insight is supporting the rollout of a new state-wide centralized operation with Rede Massa, which is an SBT affiliate, the Brazilian regional television ne...
17/03/2026
Featuring audio from practice sessions, qualifying races, and Grand Prix races, the film represents Apple's sports-media ambitions
At Sunday night's Ac...
17/03/2026
Live broadcast has always been one of the most demanding environments in media a...
17/03/2026
DirecTV is introducing several new viewing features, including a multi-screen March Madness Mix channel and an updated Sports Central mobile app hub, ahead of...
17/03/2026
Deltatre has announced a multi-year partnership with ATP Media, the media arm of the ATP Tour, covering broadcast graphics, data, and production across the 2026...
17/03/2026
The Detroit Pistons have announced a third consecutive season partnering with Sc...
Fasten your seatbelts. NVIDIA Research is revving up a new deep learning engine that creates 3D object models from standard 2D images - and can bring iconic cars like the Knight Rider's AI-powered KITT to life - in NVIDIA Omniverse.
