Spatial Reasoning

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Spatial reasoning concerns how people and AI systems represent where things are, how they relate, and how those relations change with viewpoint or movement. Common approaches use grids, graphs, coordinate frames, and 3D cognitive maps; others add geometric tools, visual imagination, active viewing, or reinforcement learning with verifiable rewards. Evaluations range from grid mazes and multi-view question answering to egocentric video, simulated navigation and manipulation, and GIS workflows. A central challenge is that success on isolated spatial questions often fails to transfer to consistent world models, perspective transformations, and reliable action over time.

Latest papers

159 papers23 papers in the last four weeks, up 92% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

Representing the Unseen: Rethinking Visual Imagination for Spatial Reasoning
Oct 27, 2026Zengqi Zhao, Zun Wang, Shoubin Yu +2Visual Spatial Reasoning Spatial Reasoning
UNC Chapel Hill
Learning and Reasoning with Geometry: How Generation Helps Spatial Understanding
Oct 26, 2026Rui Yang, Yanwei Li, Sili Chen +3Spatial Reasoning 3D Spatial Reasoning
1The University of Hong Kong · 2Shanghai Jiao Tong University · 3ByteDance Seed
SpatialBrain: Spatial Intelligence Growing from Experience
Oct 21, 2026Yifan Zhou, Ziyang Gong, Xiaojun Ye +5Spatial Reasoning in Language Models Spatial Reasoning
Shanghai Jiao Tong University · Zhejiang University
MindView: Benchmarking Generative Multi-View Spatial Intelligence
Oct 20, 2026Yanbo Wang, Siqi Luo, Siyu Zhang +9Spatial Reasoning Benchmarks Multi-View Image Synthesis
Tsinghua University · Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory · Shanghai Jiao Tong University +3
DK-VLM: Geometry as Position for Spatial Reasoning in Vision-Language Models
Oct 15, 2026Han Su, Meng Tian, Tianyu Huang +7Visual Spatial Reasoning Spatial Reasoning
Harbin Institute of Technology · Yinwang Intelligent Technology · Huawei
DynThinker: Unifying Static 3D and Dynamic 4D Spatial Reasoning
Oct 14, 2026Qihang Cao, Haoyuan Li, Zihan Guo +8Spatiotemporal Reasoning Spatial Reasoning
1Nanyang Technological University · 2Shenzhen campus of Sun Yat-sen University · 3Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd +1
Reflect After Failure: Brain-Inspired Self-Evolving Agents for Embodied Spatial Intelligence
Oct 14, 2026Xin Li, Xiaohuan Gu, Yifan Wang +6Embodied Spatial Reasoning Self-Evolving Agents
City University of Hong Kong · East China Normal University · University of Electronic Science and Technology of China +2
Frame Evidence:A Benchmark for Reference Frames and Visual Evidence in Multi-Image Spatial Reasoning
Oct 14, 2026Chunxi Luo, Qishuai Ding, Xingchen Peng +6Spatial Reasoning Benchmarks Spatial Reasoning
Shanghai University · Byaidata · East China University of Science and Technology +1
MIST: Multi-Scale Spatial Context for Gene Expression Prediction from Histology
Oct 13, 2026Koushik Howlader, Tirtho Roy, Md Tauhidul Islam +1Spatial Context Modeling Spatial Gene Expression Prediction
Iowa State University, Iowa, USA · Stanford University, CA, USA
ABot-ER: Unified Embodied Reasoning through Agentic Data-Model Co-Evolution
Oct 13, 2026Qiuyu Ding, Heng-Da Xu, Changda Xia +14Embodied Reasoning Robot Foundation Models
AMAP CV Lab Alibaba Group
ModRes: A modification of the ResPlan dataset ready for floor plan analysis and graph machine learning
Oct 12, 2026Emma Shelley, Wassim Jabi, Thomas Woolley +1Training Data Curation Spatial Reasoning
School of Computational and Mathematical Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff · Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, Cardiff
EvoSpatial: Experience-Driven Skill and Tool Evolution for Spatial Reasoning Agents
Oct 12, 2026Bin Yu, Shijie Lian, Zhaolong Shen +10Tool-Using Agents Spatial Reasoning
Harbin Institute of Technology · Zhongguancun Academy · DeepCybo +5
Learning Holistic Scene Layout against View Shifts in Cross-View Geo-Localization
Oct 9, 2026Chao Yang, Songlian Li, Zhigang TuSpatial Context Modeling Cross-View Geo-Localization
the State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, China
S-Space: Exploring Spatial Workspace in Multimodal Language Models
Oct 9, 2026Zhiyuan Shi, Xiang Li, Xingzhuo Guo +8Spatial Reasoning in Language Models Spatial Reasoning
Mind the Spatial Gap: A Benchmark for Geospatial Reasoning and Constrained Spatial Editing
Oct 9, 2026Zheng Ren, Yanning Wang, Ziheng Huang +4Geospatial Reasoning Benchmarks Geospatial Reasoning
Urban Governance and Design (UGOD) Thrust The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) Guangzhou, China
SpaceCast-Bench: Evaluating Predictive Spatial Reasoning in Vision-Language Models
Oct 8, 2026Hongxing Li, Jinyue Su, Dingming Li +5Spatial Reasoning Spatial Reasoning Benchmarks
Zhejiang University
Seek-and-View Reasoning for Multi-View Spatial Understanding
Oct 8, 2026Qixiang Chen, Cheng Zhang, Fucai Ke +3Multimodal Spatial Reasoning Visual Spatial Reasoning
Monash University · The Chinese University of Hong Kong
MOTIP2: Spatial Priors for End-to-End Multi-Object Tracking
Oct 7, 2026Benoît Roussel, Damien Bouet, Liming Chen +1Multi-Object Tracking Data Association
École Centrale de Lyon LIRIS, UMR CNRS 5205 Lyon, France · IDEMIA Courbevoie, France
Relational Abstractions for Spatial Reasoning with Diffusion Models
Oct 7, 2026Ana Ezquerro, Ozan ÖzdenizciSpatial Reasoning Diffusion Models
Institute of Machine Learning and Neural Computation Graz University of Technology, Austria
Flow-of-Thought: A Framework for Visual Reasoning
Oct 7, 2026Mariia Baidachna, Nicolas PugeaultVisual Reasoning Spatial Reasoning
University of Glasgow
Uruqi: Learning Spatial Cognition from Visual Experience
Sep 30, 2026Shichao Li, Meiqi Wang, Fei Su +1Spatial Reasoning Benchmarks Visual Spatial Reasoning
Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications · Tsinghua University
LeRF: Learning Reference Coordinate Frames for Perspective Taking Reasoning
Sep 28, 2026Bang Xiao, Wenqi Jia, Ozgur Kara +5Visual Spatial Reasoning Visual Reasoning
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · Zhiyuan College, Shanghai Jiao Tong University · University of California, Merced +2
Who Is Left of Whom? Tracing Spatial Evidence and Role Binding in Relative-Position Reasoning
Sep 28, 2026Yingjin Song, Denis Paperno, Albert GattVLM Interpretability Spatial Reasoning
Utrecht University Utrecht, The Netherlands
WM-VLM: Probing Internal World Models for Interleaved Visual-Textual Reasoning
Sep 28, 2026Yuheng Zha, Yilei Wang, Qiyue Gao +5World Model Learning 3D Spatial Reasoning
UC San Diego · Institute of Foundation Models, MBZUAI · Carnegie Mellon University
SpatialSkill: Self-Evolving Skills for Cross-View Spatial Reasoning
Sep 28, 2026Ruifan Zuo, Guocheng Hu, Wanshui Gan +3Visual Spatial Reasoning VLM Reasoning
Shandong University · Shanghai AI Laboratory · Zhiyang Innovation Co., Ltd.
InfoEdit: Probing Global Layout Reasoning in Infographic Editing
Sep 27, 2026Cheng Yang, Chufan Shi, Huijuan Wang +6Image Editing Evaluation Text-Guided Image Editing
University of California San Diego · University of Southern California · University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign +1
Beyond Spatial Benchmarks: From Spatial Reasoning to Navigation
Sep 24, 2026Xun Huang, Shijia Zhao, Rongsheng Qu +5Spatial Reasoning Benchmarks Robot Policy Learning
Xiamen University · Zhongguancun Academy · Beihang University +2
Metric-Bench: Exploring In-context Spatial Metric Reasoning in VLMs for Indoor Scenes
Sep 22, 2026Yuling Xi, Haokai Zhang, Muzhi Zhu +10VLM Reasoning Spatial Reasoning
State Key Lab of CAD & CG, Zhejiang University, China · Zhejiang University of Technology · Hangzhou Dianzi University, China +1
Spatial-Interactor: Learning Spatial Reasoning through Interaction with the Observable Physical World
Sep 19, 2026Kaixiang Yao, Xu Wang, Miao Pan +10Visual Spatial Reasoning Spatial Reasoning
Zhejiang University · SAP
A Qualitative Model for Reasoning about Path and Support
Sep 17, 2026Abhishek Jaiswal, Zoe FalomirGame-Playing Agents Spatial Reasoning
Umeå University, Sweden

Oct 27, 2026J/K move · Enter open · S save

Representing the Unseen: Rethinking Visual Imagination for Spatial Reasoning

Zengqi Zhao, Zun Wang, Shoubin Yu, Mohit Bansal+1

UNC Chapel Hill

Visual Spatial Reasoning Spatial Reasoning Spatial Reasoning Benchmarks

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Visual world models increasingly support spatial reasoning by generating RGB views of unobserved states. However, RGB has become the default interface largely because it is well suited for visual generation, rather than necessarily being the most effective representation for downstream reasoning. Different spatial questions may benefit from different representations of the same imagined state: top-down geometry can facilitate global distance comparisons, while panoramic views provide broader context for reasoning about open space. To isolate the role of representation in spatial imagination, we introduce ImagiRep, a simulator-grounded benchmark of 922 questions spanning seven question types across two settings, Viewpoint Imagination and Cross-view Integration, providing oracle RGB and six alternative representations (e.g., depth, panoramic views, and top-down geometry) of the same unobserved state. This controlled comparison reveals that even accurate imagined RGB does not guarantee accurate spatial reasoning, and different questions benefit from different representations. Similar trends hold for representations derived from world-model-estimated states. Notably, estimated RGB alone can mislead spatial reasoning, while alternative representations retain complementary benefits. Building on these findings, we introduce GEARS, a lightweight test-time strategy for adaptive representation selection, outperforming existing spatial imagination methods and showing that reasoning about unseen states requires more than generating RGB views.