mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

VirtualEnv: A Platform for Embodied AI Research

arXiv 2601.07553 ↗First posted 12 Jan 2026cs.AIcited by 0

On the map: LLM reasoning → Spatial and embodied reasoning

Abstract (arXiv)

As large language models (LLMs) continue to improve in reasoning and decision-making, there is a growing need for realistic and interactive environments where their abilities can be rigorously evaluated. We present VirtualEnv, a next-generation simulation platform built on Unreal Engine 5 that enables fine-grained benchmarking of LLMs in embodied and interactive scenarios. VirtualEnv supports rich agent-environment interactions, including object manipulation, navigation, and adaptive multi-agent collaboration, as well as game-inspired mechanics like escape rooms and procedurally generated environments. We provide a user-friendly API built on top of Unreal Engine, allowing researchers to deploy and control LLM-driven agents using natural language instructions. We integrate large-scale LLMs and vision-language models (VLMs), such as GPT-based models, to generate novel environments and structured tasks from multimodal inputs. Our experiments benchmark the performance of several popular LLMs across tasks of increasing complexity, analyzing differences in adaptability, planning, and multi-agent coordination. We also describe our methodology for procedural task generation, task validation, and real-time environment control. VirtualEnv is released as an open-source platform, we aim to advance research at the intersection of AI and gaming, enable standardized evaluation of LLMs in embodied AI settings, and pave the way for future developments in immersive simulations and interactive entertainment.

Key facts. No citing papers in the map yet (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Spatial and embodied reasoning, one of 17 directions in LLM reasoning. Builds on 14 of its 25 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 12 Jan 2026.

Builds on

14 of 25 references.

References · 14

  1. 2017CARLA: An Open Urban Driving Simulatorcited by 2,431
  2. 2019Habitat: A Platform for Embodied AI Researchcited by 1,163
  3. 2018DeepMind Control Suitecited by 935
  4. 2017AI2-THOR: An Interactive 3D Environment for Visual AIcited by 850
  5. 2018Gibson Env: Real-World Perception for Embodied Agentscited by 477
  6. 2018VirtualHome: Simulating Household Activities via Programscited by 411
  7. 2022ProcTHOR: Large-Scale Embodied AI Using Procedural Generationcited by 369
  8. 2020iGibson 1.0: a Simulation Environment for Interactive Tasks in Large Realistic Scenescited by 151
  9. 2018Building Generalizable Agents with a Realistic and Rich 3D Environmentcited by 109
  10. 2016UnrealCV: Connecting Computer Vision to Unreal Enginecited by 41
  11. 2017Sim4CV: A Photo-Realistic Simulator for Computer Vision Applicationscited by 31
  12. 2024BEHAVIOR Vision Suite: Customizable Dataset Generation via Simulationcited by 13
2 more
  1. 2019Gym-Ignition: Reproducible Robotic Simulations for Reinforcement Learningcited by 11
  2. 2024A Review of Nine Physics Engines for Reinforcement Learning Researchcited by 9

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  1. 2026EnvDreamer: Large-Scale Multimodal-to-Environment Generation for Embodied AI
  2. 2026SimWorld Studio: Automatic Environment Generation with Evolving Coding Agent for Embodied Agent Learning
  3. 2025GVGAI-LLM: Evaluating Large Language Model Agents with Infinite Games
  4. 2026How Foundational Skills Influence VLM-based Embodied Agents:A Native Perspective
  5. 2023See and Think: Embodied Agent in Virtual Environment
  6. 2025SimWorld: An Open-ended Realistic Simulator for Autonomous Agents in Physical and Social Worlds
  7. 2023Voice2Action: Language Models as Agent for Efficient Real-Time Interaction in Virtual Reality
  8. 2025SIMA 2: A Generalist Embodied Agent for Virtual Worlds