PRISM: A Multi-View Multi-Capability Retail Video Dataset for Embodied Vision-Language Models
Organizations: DreamVu
Abstract
A critical gap exists between the general-purpose visual understanding of state-of-the-art physical AI models and the specialized perceptual demands of structured real-world deployment environments. We present PRISM, a 270K-sample multi-view video supervised fine-tuning (SFT) corpus for embodied vision-language-models (VLMs) in real-world retail environments. PRISM is motivated by a simple observation - physical AI systems fail not because of poor visual recognition, but because they do not understand space, physical dynamics and embodied action well enough to operate reliably in the world. To this end, PRISM is grounded in a novel three-dimensional knowledge ontology that spans spatial knowledge, temporal and physical knowledge, and embodied action knowledge. It covers 20+ capability probes across four evaluation dimensions - Embodied Reasoning (ER), Common Sense (CS), Spatial Perception (SP), and Intuitive Physics (IP), and to our knowledge, PRISM is the first dataset to instantiate all three knowledge dimensions within a single real-world deployment domain. The corpus captures data from egocentric, exocentric and 360° viewpoints across five supermarket locations and includes open-ended, chain-of-thought, and multiple-choice supervision. At 4 fps, PRISM spans approximately 11.8M video frames and approximately 730M tokens, placing it among the largest domain-specific video SFT corpora. Fine-tuning on PRISM reduces the error rate across all 20+ probes by 66.6% over the pre-trained baseline, with significant gains in embodied action understanding where the accuracy improves by 36.4%. Our results suggest that ontology-structured, domain specific SFT can meaningfully strengthen embodied VLMs for real-world settings. The PRISM dataset and more details are available at https://dreamvu.ai/prism
Figures & tables
| Domain | Cosmos-Reason1 (base model) | PRISM (ours) | |||
| Source datasets | SFT samples | Tasks | SFT samples | ||
| Embodied | BridgeV2, AgiBot ∗ , | 1,720K | ER-1–ER-9 (9 tasks) | 93,757 | |
| Reasoning | HoloAssist, RoboVQA | (general manip.; no retail SFT) | incl. multi-actor ‡ , cross-view ‡ | ||
| Common | Physical CS | 1,800K † | CS-U-1/2, CS-R-1–4 | 47,778 | |
| Sense + | (curated video + MCQ) | (general scenes) | SP-1, SP-2 ‡ (360°) | 11,862 | |
| Spatial | incl. depth-grounded, exo spatial ‡ | ||||
| Dataset | Scale | #Tasks | Viewpoint | Domain | CoT | SFT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ego4D Grauman and others (2022) | 3,670 h | 5 | Ego | General | × | × |
| Ego-Exo4D Grauman and others (2024) | 1,286 h | 4 | Ego + Exo | Skilled act. | × | × |
| RoboVQA Sermanet et al. (2023) | 829K pairs | 6 | Exo | Office robot | × | ✓ |
| SariBench Gajo et al. (2025) | 100 demos | 3 | Ego (sim.) | Retail (sim.) | × | × |
| PRISM (ours) | 270K samples | 20 | Ego+Exo+360° | Retail | ✓ | ✓ |
| Task | Domain | View | Format | Allocated | % of Total | Annotation Method |
| ER-1: Next Subtask Prediction | ER | Ego | Und.+MCQ | 25,000 | 9.2% | Gemini Robotics ER 1.5 |
| ER-2: Task Completion Verification | ER | Ego | Und | 3,000 | 1.1% | Gemini Robotics ER 1.5 |
| ER-3: Goal-Conditioned Action Reasoning | ER | Ego | CoT | 8,000 | 3.0% | LLM (Gemini Flash) |
| ER-4: Exo-to-Ego Activity Matching | ER | Ego+Exo | Und. | 7,000 | 2.6% | LLM (Gemini Flash) + Video |
| ER-5: Hand Interaction Recognition | ER | Ego | Und.+MCQ | 15,000 | 5.5% | Gemini Robotics ER 1.5 |
| ER-6: Atomic Action Recognition | ER | Exo | Und. | 20,000 | 7.4% | Gemini Robotics ER 1.5 |
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Total samples | 270K |
| Tasks (+ 2 eval-only) | 20+ |
| Video frames (4 fps) | 11.8M |
| Total tokens | 730M (703M visual + 27M text) |
| Open-ended / CoT / MCQ | 58.6% / 30.4% / 9.2% |
| Domain: ER / CS / SP / IP / MCQ | 34.7 / 18.3 / 4.4 / 33.5 / 9.2% |
| Domain-TaskID: Task | View | Baseline (%) | PRISM (%) | (%) | Error Ratio |
| ER-1: Next Subtask Prediction | Ego | 30.8 | 76.8 | +46.0 | |
| ER-2: Task Completion | Ego | 53.6 | 87.6 | +34.0 | |
| ER-3: Action Reasoning | Ego | 32.4 | 95.2 | +62.8 | |
| ER-4: Cross-View Matching ⋆ | Ego+Exo | 42.9 | 91.0 | +48.1 | |
| ER-5: Hand Interaction | Ego | 61.6 | 95.6 | +34.0 | |
| ER-6: Atomic Action ⋆ | Exo | 54.0 | 84.8 | +30.8 |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Context: Goal: “Perform Grocery Shopping”. Sub-goal: “Navigate Produce Section”. Scene: Produce Section. Completed: “Aisle Navigation (Fruits and Vegetables).” |
| Q: What is the next subtask the person will perform? |
| A: The next subtask is: “Aisle Navigation (Dry Goods)”. Walk forward into an aisle. |
| Example 2 |
| Context: Goal: “Perform Grocery Shopping”. Sub-goal: “Select specific spice packets”. Scene: Aisle (Spices section). |
| Q: What is the next subtask the person will perform? |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Can you determine if the task “Navigate Aisle while Reviewing List” has been completed? |
| A: No, the task has not been completed yet. The person walks from the produce section towards the refrigerated freezers, checking their phone. |
| Example 2 |
| Q: Based on what you see, has the person finished “Wait for Checkout”? |
| A: The task is not yet complete. The person turns back towards the checkout counter, resuming their wait in line. |
| Example 3 |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Based on the person’s current task, where should they navigate to next in the store? |
| A: think The person has just finished inspecting the Heritage Platinum Basmati Rice. Their current sub-goal is “Examine Product Details,” which they have completed. The next logical step is to find another product to compare. /think Continue down the current aisle to explore other rice options or adjacent product categories. |
| Example 2 |
| Q: Why is the person performing this action in the context of their shopping goal? |
| A: think The person is reaching for a spice packet while their shopping list is visible on their phone. This indicates they are actively checking off items from a prepared list. /think The person is selecting a specific spice that matches an item on their shopping list. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: What activity is the person performing in this exocentric view? |
| A: The worker is scanning shelf labels and restocking items in the beverage aisle. They methodically check each section before placing products from a cart onto the shelves. |
| Example 2 |
| Q: Describe the activity visible from this overhead camera perspective. |
| A: A customer is browsing the produce section, picking up and inspecting individual vegetables before placing selected items into a blue shopping basket. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Describe what the person is doing with their hands in this clip. |
| A: Both hands are holding an item. The person pushes the cart down the aisle, passing shelves filled with rice bags and other packaged goods. |
| Example 2 |
| Q: Describe what the person is doing with their hands in this clip. |
| A: The left hand is holding an item. The right hand is resting and not engaged. The person stops near the vegetable displays and observes another customer selecting carrots from a crate. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Based on the video, what action is the person currently performing? |
| A: The action being performed by the man is: reaching toward basket (target: blue shopping basket). Extends right arm towards the blue basket. |
| Example 2 |
| Q: Describe the atomic action visible in this clip. |
| A: The person is performing: walking forward (direction: along aisle). Observable cues: full body translation, upright posture, consistent forward gait. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: What is the likely reason this person is doing what they’re doing in this scene? |
| A: think The staff member is wearing a green vest, which is often an indicator of employee attire. They are bending towards the produce shelf. The action of bending with knees and hips flexing while maintaining a straight back is a biomechanically efficient way to lower one’s body to inspect or arrange items on lower shelves. /think The staff member is restocking or inspecting produce items on the lower shelf as part of routine store maintenance. |
| Example 2 |
| Q: Why is this person performing the observed action? |
| A: think The customer is standing still near the dairy refrigerator with their head tilted slightly downward, scanning the shelves. This posture suggests they are searching for a specific product among many options. /think The person is comparing product labels to find the right variant or brand of dairy product. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: List all the people visible and their current activities in this retail scene. |
| A: The footage captures 2 people. Person 1: A female store employee walks along the produce display, stopping to arrange and organize vegetables on the shelves and bins. Person 2: A man walks forward in the aisle, carrying a blue plastic shopping basket. |
| Example 2 |
| Q: Describe what each person is doing in this scene. |
| A: Three people are visible. Person 1: A customer pushes a cart through the main aisle. Person 2: A staff member arranges products on the end-cap display. Person 3: A shopper examines items on the top shelf, reaching upward. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Describe the actions of each individual visible in this store camera view. |
| A: think From this camera view, 4 people can be identified. Person 1 walks into the produce section and interacts with staff. Person 2 is a staff member assisting at the vegetable display. Person 3 browses independently near the refrigerated section. Person 4 navigates toward the checkout area. /think Four individuals occupy the store with distinct goals: one customer selects produce with staff assistance, another browses independently, and a fourth heads toward checkout. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Describe what is happening in this scene. |
| A: The person stands at the open refrigerator door, looking at the milk pouches and curd packages inside. The camera captures the person’s hands near the shelves. Another person walks past in the background. |
| Example 2 |
| Q: Describe the environment and surroundings in this scene. |
| A: This is the Aisle (Sweets/Snacks) section of the supermarket. The person’s current sub-goal is: Examine Item Details and Check Shopping List. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: What is the typical arrangement of products on the shelving units in this grocery store aisle? |
| A: The shelving units display a variety of packaged food items, primarily snacks, arranged by category. Products are neatly stocked and often stacked to maximize shelf space, with labels facing forward for easy identification by customers. |
| Example 2 |
| Q: Describe the layout of the produce section from this exocentric view. |
| A: The produce section features open bins along both sides of a central walkway, with fruits on the left and vegetables on the right. Overhead signage indicates product categories. A weighing scale is positioned at the end of the display. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Are the visible items generally close to the person, or spread across a wider range? |
| A: think The depth statistics show a mean depth of 0.172. This is a relatively low value, indicating that most objects are in the closer to mid-range. The minimum depth is 0.055, suggesting something very close like the basket on the floor… /think Items are primarily close-range. |
| Example 2 |
| Q: What is the shopper’s current state, and what does this imply for robot navigation? |
| A: think I observe a human shopper in the aisle in a “Dynamic” state. This dynamism is evidenced by the shopper actively picking up an item from a shelf. /think The shopper is dynamic; the robot should maintain safe distance and anticipate movement. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Based on the spatial layout, what affordances are available to the person? |
| A: think The shelves on both sides are within immediate reaching distance, affording grasping of products like snacks, beverages, and household items. The floor affords walking through the aisle. The shopping basket provides containment for selected items. /think The environment affords navigation through aisles and grasping items from shelves and bins. The basket facilitates collection of products. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Analyze the cause-and-effect: why did this action happen? |
| A: think The person is in an aisle stocked with dry goods and beverages. Their goal is to perform grocery shopping, which necessitates navigating aisles to find items on their list. Walking down this aisle directly progresses through the store’s layout toward the target items. /think To find items on their shopping list located in the dry goods and beverages aisle. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Describe the typical person-object interaction required to select items from the bulk bins and refrigerated cases. |
| A: think To interact with the bulk bins, a customer would reach over the counter, lift the transparent lid, and use a scoop to retrieve the product. For refrigerated cases, the customer would open one of the glass doors to access and select items. /think Customers interact with bulk bins by lifting lids and scooping products, and with refrigerated cases by opening glass doors to retrieve items. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Does this scene have a wide or narrow depth range? |
| A: This scene has a moderate depth range from 0.05 to 0.78. There is a mix of closer and farther objects, but the distances do not span an extreme range. |
| Example 2 |
| Q: Are objects in the top portion of the view closer or farther than those at the bottom? |
| A: Objects in the top portion of the view are at shorter distances than those at the bottom, indicating a downward-looking perspective toward the floor and nearby shelves. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Describe the spatial layout and obstacle proximity from this panoramic view. |
| A: think Mean depth 0.43, bimodality 0.07. The panoramic view reveals a central open aisle flanked by shelving units on both sides at moderate distance. /think Open central aisle, shelves on both sides at moderate distance. No immediate obstacles in the navigation corridor. |
| Example 1 (Forward) |
|---|
| Q: Determine whether this video is playing in its original direction or in reverse. |
| A: This clip is playing forward. The person walks down a wide aisle, with shelves displaying biscuits and other packaged snacks on both sides. |
| Example 2 (Backward) |
| Q: Is this video playing forward or backward? |
| A: The video has been reversed and is playing backward. The person places the selected ghee container into the shopping trolley. |
| Example 1 (Ego, Backward) |
|---|
| Q: Watch this video and determine if it is playing forward or backward. Analyze the body mechanics and biomechanical cues. |
| A: think While the walking motion appears smooth, the foot placement and overall gait reveal subtle inconsistencies. The natural push-off and weight transfer of a forward stride are absent, giving the movement a slightly unnatural, gliding quality. /think The video is playing backward. |
| Example 2 (Exo, Forward) |
| Q: Watch this video and determine if it is playing forward or backward. Analyze the temporal flow and causal relationships. |
| A: think A person enters the frame from the left and walks toward the right. The legs move in a natural forward progression. There are no visual cues of reverse motion or unnatural movement patterns. /think The video is playing forward. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: Something left the field of view. Does the object continue to exist when not visible? |
| A: The object still exists. In a retail environment, items on shelves, carts, and people maintain their physical presence even when they leave the camera frame. Object permanence is a basic physical principle. |
| Example 2 |
| Q: A person walked behind a shelf and is no longer visible. Do they still exist? |
| A: Yes, the person continues to exist behind the shelf. Occlusion by a physical barrier does not cause objects or people to cease existing. They will likely reappear when the viewpoint changes or they move past the obstruction. |
| Example 1 |
|---|
| Q: What hand activity can you observe in this video? |
| A. One hand is actively engaged in gesturing while the other is still. |
| B. Both hands are idle and resting at the person’s sides. |
| C. The person is holding an object in their right hand and gesturing with the left. |
| D. The person is using both hands to clap rhythmically. |
| A: B |
| Example 1 (Physics) |
|---|
| Q: When a shopping cart is pushed and then released on a flat store floor, it gradually slows down and stops. What is the primary reason? |
| A. The cart runs out of energy. |
| B. Friction between the wheels and the floor dissipates kinetic energy. |
| C. Gravity pulls the cart downward. |
| D. Air resistance is the dominant force. |
| A: B |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Base model | Cosmos-Reason2-2B |
| Architecture | Qwen3-VL |
| Quantization | None (full BF16) |
| Compute dtype | bfloat16 |
| LoRA rank ( ) | 32 |
| LoRA alpha ( ) | 64 |
VLMs for Robotics
Vision-language models for robotics connect visual and linguistic understanding to grounded navigation, manipulation, and robot control.
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