I made a public living room and the internet keeps putting weirder stuff in it

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Nostalgic feel and reception

  • Many describe the project as evoking the “pre‑bubble” / 2005 internet: playful, pointless in a good way, Geocities / Million Dollar Homepage vibes.
  • Several people call it “magical” and “delightful,” precisely because it’s a “really good bad idea” with no serious business model.
  • Some lament that by the time they arrived it was either “debris” or closed, reinforcing the ephemeral, old‑web feeling.

Concept and mechanics

  • Shared empty living room image; everyone sees the same room.
  • Users submit one prompt at a time; the model edits the image.
  • After ~20 edits, the room resets and replays a timeline of changes.
  • Later in the thread, rooms are dominated by a few users and lots of cutesy anime, which some find less interesting.

Scaling limits, AI, and reliability

  • Initially powered by Gemini using free Google Cloud credits; quickly hit quota and rate limits (429 errors).
  • Safety filters (IMAGE_SAFETY / unprocessable entity) frequently block prompts, frustrating some.
  • Under heavy load, queues fill instantly; users want clearer indication of queue position and behavior.
  • The creator switches API providers mid‑flight, causing jankier, slower edits and more image degradation over iterations.

Suggestions for features and moderation

  • More concurrent rooms so people can riff without instant queue saturation.
  • Guardrails against flood‑filling / erasing the original room (minimum original content checks, “malicious prompt” detection, or system instructions restricting edit size).
  • Game modes: timed prompts, voting on which prompt is applied, team “edit wars,” rotating themes.
  • Options for private or custom rooms, 3D versions, or user‑supplied background images.

Monetization, sponsorship, and self‑hosting

  • Repeated concern that free credits will run out; various suggestions:
    • Charge to place objects; “premium” persistent items; sponsor‑a‑room with brand placement or custom backgrounds.
    • Take donations (tips, BTC, Venmo); possibly charge advertisers rather than users.
  • Some propose letting users plug in their own API keys or open‑sourcing so others can host.

Meta: internet culture and payments

  • Thread drifts into nostalgia for a smaller, less hostile internet vs. today’s “jerk‑groups.”
  • People note the enduring lack of simple sub‑$1 web payments and reference past failed attempts and status codes (402).