# Spatial Traces: Enhancing VLA Models with Spatial-Temporal Understanding

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.09032 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.09032/

## Key facts

- Cited by 11 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in 3D and spatial-aware VLA, one of 13 directions in Vision-language-action models.
- Builds on 27 of its 37 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 12 Aug 2025.

## Placed in

- Vision-language-action models / [3D and spatial-aware VLA](https://mlsanity.com/vla/3d-and-spatial-aware-vla/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 27 of 27)

- [LoRA: Low-Rank Adaptation of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.09685/) (2021)
- [OpenVLA: An Open-Source Vision-Language-Action Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09246/) (2024)
- [PaLM-E: An Embodied Multimodal Language Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.03378/) (2023)
- [Octo: An Open-Source Generalist Robot Policy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.12213/) (2024)
- [Inner Monologue: Embodied Reasoning through Planning with Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.05608/) (2022)
- [ZoeDepth: Zero-shot Transfer by Combining Relative and Metric Depth](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.12288/) (2023)
- [BridgeData V2: A Dataset for Robot Learning at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.12952/) (2023)
- [CoTracker: It is Better to Track Together](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.07635/) (2023)
- [SpatialVLA: Exploring Spatial Representations for Visual-Language-Action Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.15830/) (2025)
- [robosuite: A Modular Simulation Framework and Benchmark for Robot Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.12293/) (2020)
- [Evaluating Real-World Robot Manipulation Policies in Simulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.05941/) (2024)
- [LLM-Planner: Few-Shot Grounded Planning for Embodied Agents with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.04088/) (2022)
- [CogACT: A Foundational Vision-Language-Action Model for Synergizing Cognition and Action in Robotic Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.19650/) (2024)
- [VIMA: General Robot Manipulation with Multimodal Prompts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.03094/) (2022)
- [TraceVLA: Visual Trace Prompting Enhances Spatial-Temporal Awareness for Generalist Robotic Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.10345/) (2024)
- [BABILong: Testing the Limits of LLMs with Long Context Reasoning-in-a-Haystack](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.10149/) (2024)
- [PaliGemma 2: A Family of Versatile VLMs for Transfer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.03555/) (2024)
- [Look Before You Leap: Unveiling the Power of GPT-4V in Robotic Vision-Language Planning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.17842/) (2023)
- [Magma: A Foundation Model for Multimodal AI Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.13130/) (2025)
- [RT-Trajectory: Robotic Task Generalization via Hindsight Trajectory Sketches](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.01977/) (2023)
- [RoboVQA: Multimodal Long-Horizon Reasoning for Robotics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.00899/) (2023)
- [RoboTAP: Tracking Arbitrary Points for Few-Shot Visual Imitation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.15975/) (2023)
- [What Matters in Building Vision-Language-Action Models for Generalist Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.14058/) (2024)
- [RT-Affordance: Affordances are Versatile Intermediate Representations for Robot Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.02704/) (2024)
- [VerifyLLM: LLM-Based Pre-Execution Task Plan Verification for Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.05118/) (2025)
- [SEM: Enhancing Spatial Understanding for Robust Robot Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.16196/) (2025)
- [LERa: Replanning with Visual Feedback in Instruction Following](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.05135/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 11 of 11)

- [Large VLM-based Vision-Language-Action Models for Robotic Manipulation: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.13073/) (2025)
- [Towards Generalizable Robotic Manipulation in Dynamic Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.15620/) (2026)
- [LaMP: Learning Vision-Language-Action Policy with 3D Scene Flow as Latent Motion Prior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.25399/) (2026)
- [OmniVLA: Physically-Grounded Multimodal VLA with Unified Multi-Sensor Perception for Robotic Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.01210/) (2025)
- [μVLA: On Recurrent Memory for Partially Observable Manipulation in VLA Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.12497/) (2026)
- [UniLACT: Depth-Aware RGB Latent Action Learning for Vision-Language-Action Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.20231/) (2026)
- [An Anatomy of Vision-Language-Action Models: From Modules to Milestones and Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.11362/) (2025)
- [Robots Need More than VLA and World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.06556/) (2026)
- [MuseVLA: An Adaptive Multimodal Sensing Vision-Language-Action Model for Robotic Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.17598/) (2026)
- [AnchorVLA4D: an Anchor-Based Spatial-Temporal Vision-Language-Action Model for Robotic Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.12730/) (2026)
- [Does VLA Even Know the Basics? Measuring Commonsense and World Knowledge Retention in Vision-Language-Action Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.19297/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Vision-Language-Action models have demonstrated remarkable capabilities in predicting agent movements within virtual environments and real-world scenarios based on visual observations and textual instructions. Although recent research has focused on enhancing spatial and temporal understanding independently, this paper presents a novel approach that integrates both aspects through visual prompting. We introduce a method that projects visual traces of key points from observations onto depth maps, enabling models to capture both spatial and temporal information simultaneously. The experiments in SimplerEnv show that the mean number of tasks successfully solved increased for 4% compared to SpatialVLA and 19% compared to TraceVLA. Furthermore, we show that this enhancement can be achieved with minimal training data, making it particularly valuable for real-world applications where data collection is challenging. The project page is available at https://ampiromax.github.io/ST-VLA.