{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7163713297","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.06476","title":"Thinking with Imagination: Agentic Visual Spatial Reasoning with World Simulators","display_name":"Thinking with Imagination: Agentic Visual Spatial Reasoning with World Simulators","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-06-04","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7163713297","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.06476"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2606.06476","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.06476","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":"Preprint"},"type":"preprint","indexed_in":["datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.06476","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5137925684","display_name":"Chenming Zhu","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Zhu, Chenming","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5138009875","display_name":"Jingli Lin","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Lin, Jingli","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5000739439","display_name":"Yilin Long","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Long, Yilin","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5113292047","display_name":"Peizhou Cao","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Cao, Peizhou","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5137981263","display_name":"Tai Wang","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Wang, Tai","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5137917958","display_name":"Jiangmiao Pang","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Pang, Jiangmiao","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5137928988","display_name":"Xihui Liu","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Liu, Xihui","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":0,"institutions_distinct_count":0,"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":0.9700000286102295,"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":0.9700000286102295,"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":0.002300000051036477,"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/T11148","display_name":"Language, Metaphor, and Cognition","score":0.002300000051036477,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3205","display_name":"Experimental and Cognitive Psychology"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/32","display_name":"Psychology"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/viewpoints","display_name":"Viewpoints","score":0.6687999963760376},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/consistency","display_name":"Consistency (knowledge bases)","score":0.6460000276565552},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/context","display_name":"Context (archaeology)","score":0.6384000182151794},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/visual-reasoning","display_name":"Visual reasoning","score":0.535099983215332},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/spatial-intelligence","display_name":"Spatial intelligence","score":0.4982999861240387},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/spatial-contextual-awareness","display_name":"Spatial contextual awareness","score":0.40450000762939453},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/exploit","display_name":"Exploit","score":0.33709999918937683}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776035091","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7928819","display_name":"Viewpoints","level":2,"score":0.6687999963760376},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776436953","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5163215","display_name":"Consistency (knowledge bases)","level":2,"score":0.6460000276565552},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779343474","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3109175","display_name":"Context (archaeology)","level":2,"score":0.6384000182151794},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.6201000213623047},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.5382000207901001},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777508537","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7936620","display_name":"Visual reasoning","level":2,"score":0.535099983215332},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C155911833","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3817354","display_name":"Spatial intelligence","level":2,"score":0.4982999861240387},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C64754055","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7574053","display_name":"Spatial contextual awareness","level":2,"score":0.40450000762939453},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C107457646","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q207434","display_name":"Human\u2013computer interaction","level":1,"score":0.38999998569488525},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C180747234","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23373","display_name":"Cognitive psychology","level":1,"score":0.35910001397132874},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C165696696","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11287","display_name":"Exploit","level":2,"score":0.33709999918937683},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777541608","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5165194","display_name":"Contextual learning","level":2,"score":0.3257000148296356},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C178253425","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q162668","display_name":"Visual perception","level":3,"score":0.32330000400543213},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779321571","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7936605","display_name":"Visual learning","level":2,"score":0.3095000088214874},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2985665543","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3560550","display_name":"Spatial learning","level":3,"score":0.29820001125335693},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C29554801","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q147027","display_name":"Thought experiment","level":2,"score":0.2802000045776367},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C165064840","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1321061","display_name":"Matching (statistics)","level":2,"score":0.265500009059906},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C36464697","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q451553","display_name":"Visualization","level":2,"score":0.26089999079704285},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C31972630","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q844240","display_name":"Computer vision","level":1,"score":0.2556000053882599}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2606.06476","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.06476","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":"Preprint"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2606.06476","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2606.06476","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":"Preprint"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"While":[0],"Vision-Language":[1],"Models":[2],"(VLMs)":[3],"have":[4],"shown":[5],"strong":[6],"visual":[7,63,86],"reasoning":[8,12,79,221],"capabilities,":[9],"their":[10],"spatial":[11,78,216],"abilities":[13],"remain":[14],"largely":[15],"constrained":[16],"to":[17,27,125,144,153,186,196,203,228],"the":[18,134,150,155,169,173,191],"observed":[19],"images":[20,108],"and":[21,34,109,128,148,172,200,226],"text-oriented":[22],"chain-of-thought.":[23],"They":[24],"often":[25],"struggle":[26],"infer":[28],"unobserved":[29],"layouts,":[30],"maintain":[31],"cross-view":[32],"consistency,":[33],"reason":[35],"from":[36,106,184,194,201],"alternative":[37],"viewpoints":[38],"when":[39,158],"only":[40,157],"limited":[41],"egocentric":[42],"observations":[43,105,160,212],"are":[44,176],"available.":[45],"In":[46,133],"this":[47,51],"work,":[48],"we":[49,137],"study":[50],"problem":[52],"as":[53],"thinking":[54],"with":[55,67,84,96,121],"imagination,":[56],"where":[57],"a":[58,68,98,139],"VLM":[59,94],"actively":[60],"acquires":[61],"imagined":[62,116,159,211],"evidence":[64],"by":[65],"interacting":[66],"world":[69,100,170],"simulator":[70,101,156,171],"during":[71],"reasoning.":[72],"We":[73],"propose":[74,138],"Astra,":[75],"an":[76,92],"agentic":[77,174],"framework":[80],"that":[81,102,167,210],"empowers":[82],"VLMs":[83],"action-conditioned":[85],"imagination.":[87],"Specifically,":[88],"Astra":[89],"couples":[90],"Astra-VL,":[91],"RL-trained":[93],"policy,":[95],"Astra-WM,":[97],"Bagel-based":[99],"generates":[103],"novel-view":[104],"context":[107],"natural-language":[110],"camera":[111],"motions.":[112],"To":[113],"provide":[114,214],"reliable":[115],"evidence,":[117,217],"Astra-WM":[118,178],"is":[119],"trained":[120],"view":[122],"consistency":[123,130],"tuning":[124],"improve":[126,161],"pose":[127],"content":[129],"across":[131],"views.":[132],"RL":[135,142],"stage,":[136],"world-simulator-in-the-loop":[140],"two-phase":[141],"curriculum":[143],"stabilize":[145],"tool-use":[146],"exploration":[147],"advance":[149],"model's":[151],"ability":[152],"invoke":[154],"over":[162],"direct":[163],"answering.":[164],"Experiments":[165],"demonstrate":[166],"both":[168],"policy":[175],"necessary:":[177],"improves":[179,190],"simulator-augmented":[180],"Gemini-3-Flash":[181],"on":[182,198,205],"MMSI-Bench":[183,199],"45.1":[185],"49.5,":[187],"while":[188],"Astra-VL":[189],"Qwen3-VL":[192],"backbone":[193],"29.8":[195],"38.8":[197],"36.8":[202],"42.7":[204],"MindCube.":[206],"These":[207],"results":[208],"show":[209],"can":[213],"useful":[215],"but":[218],"effective":[219],"world-model-augmented":[220],"requires":[222],"learning":[223],"when,":[224],"where,":[225],"how":[227],"imagine.":[229]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-07-01T06:00:48.157686","created_date":"2026-06-06T00:00:00"}