Highly Photorealistic Programmable 3D Worlds

Midgard AI is developing a highly photorealistic, programmable 3D lunar simulation environment to support NASA’s modeling and simulation (M&S) needs. Building upon the Phase I feasibility study, Phase II will focus on refining our AI-driven terrain generation pipeline, enhancing physics-based lighting, and ensuring seamless integration with existing NASA simulation frameworks. The goal is to provide a scalable, high-fidelity tool for autonomy validation, sensor simulation, and mission planning in lunar environments. A major challenge in lunar simulation is the current lack of high-resolution, configurable digital elevation models (DEMs) that can accurately represent surface conditions for robotic and crewed exploration. Midgard AI’s approach leverages AI-driven up-resolution techniques, procedural terrain generation, and real-time rendering advancements to bridge this gap. The result is a dynamic, physics-aware lunar world that can be customized based on mission needs, allowing NASA to test autonomous navigation, sensor performance, and operational scenarios with unprecedented accuracy. The platform is designed for flexibility and accessibility, integrating with industry-standard tools and NASA’s proprietary simulation environments. Our focus in Phase II will be on improving terrain realism, implementing physics-based sensor data generation, and expanding the capability for real-time environmental adjustments—essential for mission rehearsal, AI model training, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing. By the end of Phase II, we will deliver a robust prototype at TRL 6, demonstrating operational feasibility within NASA’s workflows. Beyond government applications, this technology has strong commercial potential in aerospace, robotics, and geospatial intelligence, where accurate synthetic environments are critical for simulation and AI training; ensuring that NASA and its partners can simulate and validate next-generation lunar exploration technologies.