State of Game Engines in Robotics | Ena So (Ziva)

In this talk

1. 0:22

   How robotics simulation tools evolved

   Ena says CARLA was built on Unreal Engine. The Isaac tools began with Unreal, moved to Unity, and later developed Omniverse because of game engines’ physics limitations. She says game engines remain useful for photorealistic virtual worlds.

2. 1:13

   Ziva’s path beyond game development

   Ziva started as a tool for game studios to build and test 3D models and worlds. Ena says food, medtech, and construction companies later approached Ziva for digital twins and virtual environments for device testing and teleoperation.

3. 2:10

   A warehouse simulation demonstration

   Ena shows Ziva building a warehouse environment, recording a simulation, and labeling activity in the video. The demonstration runs on Unreal Engine with a Ziva agent. Afterward, a report provides contact information and raw data about what happened.

4. 3:01

   Using simulation data and combining tools

   Ena describes the simulation data as useful for generating synthetic data for regression testing and model training, with possible sim-to-real transfer. In response to an audience question, she says game engines can provide realistic worlds while tools such as Isaac Sim are strong at contact physics. She suggests combining their strengths to advance robotics, humanoids, and physical AI.