# WorldExplorer: Towards Generating Fully Navigable 3D Scenes

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.01799 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.01799/

## Key facts

- Cited by 26 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 45 of its 69 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 2 Jun 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 45)

- [Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00020/) (2021)
- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.04597/) (2015)
- [Hierarchical Text-Conditional Image Generation with CLIP Latents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.06125/) (2022)
- [Photorealistic Text-to-Image Diffusion Models with Deep Language Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.11487/) (2022)
- [3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Field Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04079/) (2023)
- [Scalable Diffusion Models with Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.09748/) (2022)
- [SDXL: Improving Latent Diffusion Models for High-Resolution Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.01952/) (2023)
- [LAION-5B: An open large-scale dataset for training next generation image-text models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.08402/) (2022)
- [DreamBooth: Fine Tuning Text-to-Image Diffusion Models for Subject-Driven Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.12242/) (2022)
- [DreamFusion: Text-to-3D using 2D Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.14988/) (2022)
- [Improved Techniques for Training GANs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.03498/) (2016)
- [InstructPix2Pix: Learning to Follow Image Editing Instructions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.09800/) (2022)
- [Stable Video Diffusion: Scaling Latent Video Diffusion Models to Large Datasets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.15127/) (2023)
- [Depth Anything V2](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09414/) (2024)
- [T2I-Adapter: Learning Adapters to Dig out More Controllable Ability for Text-to-Image Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.08453/) (2023)
- [Palette: Image-to-Image Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.05826/) (2021)
- [ProlificDreamer: High-Fidelity and Diverse Text-to-3D Generation with Variational Score Distillation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16213/) (2023)
- [Accelerating 3D Deep Learning with PyTorch3D](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.08501/) (2020)
- [CAT3D: Create Anything in 3D with Multi-View Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.10314/) (2024)
- [SynSin: End-to-end View Synthesis from a Single Image](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.08804/) (2019)
- [GEN3C: 3D-Informed World-Consistent Video Generation with Precise Camera Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.03751/) (2025)
- [SANA: Efficient High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Linear Diffusion Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.10629/) (2024)
- [Infinite Nature: Perpetual View Generation of Natural Scenes from a Single Image](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.09855/) (2020)
- [Video Depth Anything: Consistent Depth Estimation for Super-Long Videos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.12375/) (2025)
- [WonderWorld: Interactive 3D Scene Generation from a Single Image](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09394/) (2024)
- [Stable Virtual Camera: Generative View Synthesis with Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.14489/) (2025)
- [VD3D: Taming Large Video Diffusion Transformers for 3D Camera Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.12781/) (2024)
- [AC3D: Analyzing and Improving 3D Camera Control in Video Diffusion Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.18673/) (2024)
- [ReconX: Reconstruct Any Scene from Sparse Views with Video Diffusion Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.16767/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 26 of 26)

- [Lyra 2.0: Explorable Generative 3D Worlds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.13036/) (2026)
- [HY-World 2.0: A Multi-Modal World Model for Reconstructing, Generating, and Simulating 3D Worlds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.14268/) (2026)
- [Lyra: Generative 3D Scene Reconstruction via Video Diffusion Model Self-Distillation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.19296/) (2025)
- [FantasyWorld: Geometry-Consistent World Modeling via Unified Video and 3D Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.21657/) (2025)
- [VerseCrafter: Dynamic Realistic Video World Model with 4D Geometric Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.05138/) (2026)
- [WorldStereo: Bridging Camera-Guided Video Generation and Scene Reconstruction via 3D Geometric Memories](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.02049/) (2026)
- [Code World Model: Coding Agent as World Brain](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.25927/) (2026)
- [ReRoPE: Repurposing RoPE for Relative Camera Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.08068/) (2026)
- [Grounding World Simulation Models in a Real-World Metropolis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.15583/) (2026)
- [Plenoptic Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.05239/) (2026)
- [World Reconstruction From Inconsistent Views](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.16736/) (2026)
- [WorldClaw: Agentic 3D Open-World Generation at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.05248/) (2026)
- [I-Scene: 3D Instance Models are Implicit Generalizable Spatial Learners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.13683/) (2025)
- [GS-Scale: Unlocking Large-Scale 3D Gaussian Splatting Training via Host Offloading](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.15645/) (2025)
- [Captain Safari: A World Engine with Pose-Aligned 3D Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.22815/) (2025)
- [GaussianGPT: Towards Autoregressive 3D Gaussian Scene Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.26661/) (2026)
- [Generative View Stitching](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.24718/) (2025)
- [MoVerse: Real-Time Video World Modeling with Panoramic Gaussian Scaffold](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.13376/) (2026)
- [SonoWorld: From One Image to a 3D Audio-Visual Scene](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.28757/) (2026)
- [WorldAgents: Can Foundation Image Models be Agents for 3D World Models?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.19708/) (2026)
- [WorldMesh: Generating Navigable Multi-Room 3D Scenes via Mesh-Conditioned Image Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.22972/) (2026)
- [McCast: Memory-Guided Latent Drift Correction for Long-Horizon Precipitation Nowcasting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.13197/) (2026)
- [Towards 3D-Aware Video Diffusion Models: Render-Free Human Motion Control with Mesh Tokenization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.02000/) (2026)
- [Scene Generation at Absolute Scale: Utilizing Semantic and Geometric Guidance From Text for Accurate and Interpretable 3D Indoor Scene Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.13910/) (2026)
- [Stepper: Stepwise Immersive Scene Generation with Multiview Panoramas](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.28980/) (2026)
- [Text2Sim: Agentic Physics-Based Simulation Generation with Distilled Expertise](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.36593/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Generating 3D worlds from text is a highly anticipated goal in computer vision. Existing works are limited by the degree of exploration they allow inside of a scene, i.e., produce streched-out and noisy artifacts when moving beyond central or panoramic perspectives. To this end, we propose WorldExplorer, a novel method based on autoregressive video trajectory generation, which builds fully navigable 3D scenes with consistent visual quality across a wide range of viewpoints. We initialize our scenes by creating multi-view consistent images corresponding to a 360 degree panorama. Then, we expand it by leveraging video diffusion models in an iterative scene generation pipeline. Concretely, we generate multiple videos along short, pre-defined trajectories, that explore the scene in depth, including motion around objects. Our novel scene memory conditions each video on the most relevant prior views, while a collision-detection mechanism prevents degenerate results, like moving into objects. Finally, we fuse all generated views into a unified 3D representation via 3D Gaussian Splatting optimization. Compared to prior approaches, WorldExplorer produces high-quality scenes that remain stable under large camera motion, enabling for the first time realistic and unrestricted exploration. We believe this marks a significant step toward generating immersive and truly explorable virtual 3D environments.