{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7138073997","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2603.15359","title":"NavThinker: Action-Conditioned World Models for Coupled Prediction and Planning in Social Navigation","display_name":"NavThinker: Action-Conditioned World Models for Coupled Prediction and Planning in Social Navigation","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-03-16","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7138073997","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2603.15359"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2603.15359","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2603.15359","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"article"},"type":"preprint","indexed_in":["datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2603.15359","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5081039403","display_name":"Tianshuai Hu","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Hu, Tianshuai","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5113018339","display_name":"Zeying Gong","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Gong, Zeying","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5129648965","display_name":"Lingdong Kong","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Kong, Lingdong","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5129740060","display_name":"XiaoDong Mei","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Mei, XiaoDong","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5101198950","display_name":"Yiyi Ding","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ding, Yiyi","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5101985015","display_name":"Qi Zeng","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8700-6661"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Zeng, Qi","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5120416276","display_name":"Ao Liang","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Liang, Ao","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5129727873","display_name":"Rong Li","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Li, Rong","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100570303","display_name":"Yangyi Zhong","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Zhong, Yangyi","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5129646047","display_name":"Junwei Liang","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Liang, Junwei","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":0,"institutions_distinct_count":10,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":null,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":null,"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11714","display_name":"Multimodal Machine Learning Applications","score":0.45249998569488525,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11714","display_name":"Multimodal Machine Learning Applications","score":0.45249998569488525,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10709","display_name":"Social Robot Interaction and HRI","score":0.219200000166893,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3207","display_name":"Social Psychology"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/32","display_name":"Psychology"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11099","display_name":"Autonomous Vehicle Technology and Safety","score":0.15070000290870667,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2203","display_name":"Automotive Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/generalization","display_name":"Generalization","score":0.663100004196167},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/robot","display_name":"Robot","score":0.5753999948501587},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/software-deployment","display_name":"Software deployment","score":0.4966000020503998},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/state-space","display_name":"State space","score":0.4586000144481659},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/feature","display_name":"Feature (linguistics)","score":0.4584999978542328},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/embedding","display_name":"Embedding","score":0.45019999146461487},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/motion","display_name":"Motion (physics)","score":0.4431999921798706},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/human-behavior","display_name":"Human behavior","score":0.4262000024318695},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/human\u2013robot-interaction","display_name":"Human\u2013robot interaction","score":0.41519999504089355}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C177148314","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q170084","display_name":"Generalization","level":2,"score":0.663100004196167},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.5781000256538391},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.578000009059906},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C90509273","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11012","display_name":"Robot","level":2,"score":0.5753999948501587},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C105339364","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2297740","display_name":"Software deployment","level":2,"score":0.4966000020503998},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C72434380","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q230930","display_name":"State space","level":2,"score":0.4586000144481659},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776401178","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12050496","display_name":"Feature (linguistics)","level":2,"score":0.4584999978542328},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41608201","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q980509","display_name":"Embedding","level":2,"score":0.45019999146461487},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C104114177","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79782","display_name":"Motion (physics)","level":2,"score":0.4431999921798706},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C117035363","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3769299","display_name":"Human behavior","level":2,"score":0.4262000024318695},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C145460709","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q859951","display_name":"Human\u2013robot interaction","level":3,"score":0.41519999504089355},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C19966478","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4810574","display_name":"Mobile robot","level":3,"score":0.4081000089645386},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C48103436","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q599031","display_name":"State (computer science)","level":2,"score":0.39820000529289246},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C97541855","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q830687","display_name":"Reinforcement learning","level":2,"score":0.3937999904155731},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C107457646","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q207434","display_name":"Human\u2013computer interaction","level":1,"score":0.3873000144958496},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778572836","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q380933","display_name":"Space (punctuation)","level":2,"score":0.3828999996185303},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119857082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2539","display_name":"Machine learning","level":1,"score":0.36980000138282776},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C162947575","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2005645","display_name":"Social robot","level":5,"score":0.3671000003814697},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C81074085","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q366872","display_name":"Motion planning","level":3,"score":0.36000001430511475},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C159877910","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2202883","display_name":"Autoregressive model","level":2,"score":0.35260000824928284},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26990112","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6887224","display_name":"Mobile robot navigation","level":5,"score":0.33649998903274536},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26517878","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228039","display_name":"Key (lock)","level":2,"score":0.3285999894142151},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C31972630","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q844240","display_name":"Computer vision","level":1,"score":0.2944999933242798},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C34413123","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q170978","display_name":"Robotics","level":3,"score":0.288100004196167},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C12713177","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1900281","display_name":"Perspective (graphical)","level":2,"score":0.2685000002384186},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777891301","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3475123","display_name":"Navigation system","level":2,"score":0.2676999866962433},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C127413603","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11023","display_name":"Engineering","level":0,"score":0.2648000121116638},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C78639753","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3318160","display_name":"Behavioral modeling","level":2,"score":0.2574000060558319},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780791683","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q846785","display_name":"Action (physics)","level":2,"score":0.2556999921798706}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2603.15359","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2603.15359","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":null,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2603.15359","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2603.15359","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[{"display_name":"Reduced inequalities","score":0.5828481912612915,"id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/10"}],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Social":[0],"navigation":[1,154],"requires":[2],"robots":[3],"to":[4,31,159],"act":[5],"safely":[6],"in":[7,75],"dynamic":[8],"human":[9,45,92,102,144],"environments.":[10],"Effective":[11],"behavior":[12],"demands":[13],"thinking":[14],"ahead:":[15],"reasoning":[16],"about":[17],"how":[18],"the":[19,76,117,133],"scene":[20,89],"and":[21,44,83,91,101,111,137,149,161,170],"pedestrians":[22],"evolve":[23],"under":[24],"different":[25],"robot":[26,42],"actions":[27,43],"rather":[28],"than":[29],"reacting":[30],"current":[32,134],"observations":[33],"alone.":[34],"This":[35],"creates":[36],"a":[37,58,105,165],"coupled":[38],"prediction-planning":[39],"challenge,":[40,54],"where":[41],"motion":[46],"mutually":[47],"influence":[48],"each":[49],"other.":[50],"To":[51],"address":[52],"this":[53],"we":[55,115],"propose":[56],"NavThinker,":[57],"future-aware":[59,106],"framework":[60],"that":[61],"couples":[62],"an":[63],"action-conditioned":[64,128],"world":[65,72],"model":[66,73],"with":[67,109,119,156],"on-policy":[68],"reinforcement":[69],"learning.":[70],"The":[71],"operates":[74],"Depth":[77],"Anything":[78],"V2":[79],"patch":[80],"feature":[81],"space":[82],"performs":[84],"autoregressive":[85],"prediction":[86],"of":[87],"future":[88,98,129],"geometry":[90],"motion;":[93],"multi-head":[94],"decoders":[95],"then":[96],"produce":[97],"depth":[99],"maps":[100],"trajectories,":[103],"yielding":[104],"state":[107],"aligned":[108],"traversability":[110],"interaction":[112],"risk.":[113],"Crucially,":[114],"train":[116],"policy":[118],"DD-PPO":[120],"while":[121],"injecting":[122],"world-model":[123],"think-ahead":[124],"signals":[125],"via:":[126],"(i)":[127],"features":[130],"fused":[131],"into":[132],"observation":[135],"embedding":[136],"(ii)":[138],"social":[139],"reward":[140],"shaping":[141],"from":[142],"predicted":[143],"trajectories.":[145],"Experiments":[146],"on":[147,164],"single-":[148],"multi-robot":[150],"Social-HM3D":[151],"show":[152],"state-of-the-art":[153],"success,":[155],"zero-shot":[157],"transfer":[158],"Social-MP3D":[160],"real-world":[162],"deployment":[163],"Unitree":[166],"Go2,":[167],"validating":[168],"generalization":[169],"practical":[171],"applicability.":[172],"Webpage:":[173],"https://hutslib.github.io/NavThinker.":[174]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-06-11T09:08:48.828518","created_date":"2026-03-18T00:00:00"}
