mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

Goal Force: Teaching Video Models To Accomplish Physics-Conditioned Goals

arXiv 2601.05848 ↗First posted 9 Jan 2026cs.CV cs.AI cs.ROcited by 9

On the map: World models → Latent predictive world models

Abstract (arXiv)

Recent advancements in video generation have enabled the development of ``world models'' capable of simulating potential futures for robotics and planning. However, specifying precise goals for these models remains a challenge; text instructions are often too abstract to capture physical nuances, while target images are frequently infeasible to specify for dynamic tasks. To address this, we introduce Goal Force, a novel framework that allows users to define goals via explicit force vectors and intermediate dynamics, mirroring how humans conceptualize physical tasks. We train a video generation model on a curated dataset of synthetic causal primitives-such as elastic collisions and falling dominos-teaching it to propagate forces through time and space. Despite being trained on simple physics data, our model exhibits remarkable zero-shot generalization to complex, real-world scenarios, including tool manipulation and multi-object causal chains. Our results suggest that by grounding video generation in fundamental physical interactions, models can emerge as implicit neural physics simulators, enabling precise, physics-aware planning without reliance on external engines. We release all datasets, code, model weights, and interactive video demos at our project page.

Key facts. Cited by 9 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Latent predictive world models, one of 11 directions in World models. Builds on 33 of its 67 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 9 Jan 2026.

Builds on

33 of 67 references.

Closest ancestors · 1

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2025Force Prompting: Video Generation Models Can Learn and Generalize Physics-based Control Signals26 May

Other references · 32

  1. 2025Wan: Open and Advanced Large-Scale Video Generative Modelscited by 2,708
  2. 2023Stable Video Diffusion: Scaling Latent Video Diffusion Models to Large Datasetscited by 2,581
  3. 2024CogVideoX: Text-to-Video Diffusion Models with An Expert Transformercited by 2,261
  4. 2022Imagen Video: High Definition Video Generation with Diffusion Modelscited by 1,778
  5. 2022Make-A-Video: Text-to-Video Generation without Text-Video Datacited by 1,742
  6. 2018World Modelscited by 1,513
  7. 2025Cosmos World Foundation Model Platform for Physical AIcited by 864
  8. 2023Learning Interactive Real-World Simulatorscited by 458
  9. 2024Diffusion Models Are Real-Time Game Enginescited by 296
  10. 2024Navigation World Modelscited by 272
  11. 2023DragNUWA: Fine-grained Control in Video Generation by Integrating Text, Image, and Trajectorycited by 264
  12. 2023Emu Video: Factorizing Text-to-Video Generation by Explicit Image Conditioningcited by 255
20 more
  1. 2024RoboDreamer: Learning Compositional World Models for Robot Imaginationcited by 195
  2. 2024Motion Prompting: Controlling Video Generation with Motion Trajectoriescited by 178
  3. 2024DimensionX: Create Any 3D and 4D Scenes from a Single Image with Controllable Video Diffusioncited by 140
  4. 2024GameGen-X: Interactive Open-world Game Video Generationcited by 128
  5. 2024CamI2V: Camera-Controlled Image-to-Video Diffusion Modelcited by 120
  6. 2023Motion-Conditioned Diffusion Model for Controllable Video Synthesiscited by 99
  7. 2024MOFA-Video: Controllable Image Animation via Generative Motion Field Adaptions in Frozen Image-to-Video Diffusion Modelcited by 89
  8. 2024Dreamitate: Real-World Visuomotor Policy Learning via Video Generationcited by 87
  9. 2024Physics3D: Learning Physical Properties of 3D Gaussians via Video Diffusioncited by 80
  10. 2024SG-I2V: Self-Guided Trajectory Control in Image-to-Video Generationcited by 68
  11. 2024Image Conductor: Precision Control for Interactive Video Synthesiscited by 63
  12. 2023Diffusion Reward: Learning Rewards via Conditional Video Diffusioncited by 57
  13. 2025PISA Experiments: Exploring Physics Post-Training for Video Diffusion Models by Watching Stuff Dropcited by 50
  14. 2024MotionCraft: Physics-based Zero-Shot Video Generationcited by 48
  15. 2024PhysMotion: Physics-Grounded Dynamics From a Single Imagecited by 45
  16. 2025WonderPlay: Dynamic 3D Scene Generation from a Single Image and Actionscited by 45
  17. 2024DreamPhysics: Learning Physics-Based 3D Dynamics with Video Diffusion Priorscited by 41
  18. 2024Towards Generalist Robot Learning from Internet Video: A Surveycited by 40
  19. 2024Phys4DGen: Physics-Compliant 4D Generation with Multi-Material Composition Perceptioncited by 23
  20. 2025Solving New Tasks by Adapting Internet Video Knowledgecited by 13

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2026: 9.

9 papers.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2026Robotic Video World Models: A Survey of Applications, Research Challenges, Future Directions
  2. 2026PhyGround: Benchmarking Physical Reasoning in Generative World Models
  3. 2026PhySimCode: A Benchmark and Evaluation Method for Physics Video to Code Generation
  4. 2025PhysCtrl: Generative Physics for Controllable and Physics-Grounded Video Generation
  5. 2026PhysicsLENS: Diagnosing Physical Property Blindness in Video Generation Models
  6. 2025Robot Learning from a Physical World Model
  7. 2025Evaluating Newtonian Mechanics in Video Generative Models with Real Physical Systems
  8. 2026CLAP: Cross-Embodiment Video World Models are Zero-Shot Physical Simulators