mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

WorldArena 2.0: Extending Embodied World Model Benchmarking on Modality, Functionality and Platform

arXiv 2605.17912 ↗First posted 18 May 2026cs.RO cs.CVcited by 10

On the map: World models → World models for navigation

Abstract (arXiv)

World models have emerged as a central paradigm for embodied intelligence, enabling agents to predict action-conditioned future and reason about environmental dynamics. However, existing embodied world model benchmarks are still largely confined to vision-only prediction, offline embodied applications, and simulator-based evaluation, making them insufficient for assessing increasingly comprehensive world models. In this work, we introduce WorldArena 2.0, an expanded benchmark that systematically broadens embodied world model evaluation along three dimensions: modality, functionality, and platform. Along the modality dimension, WorldArena 2.0 extends evaluation from vision-only to visuotactile modalities, enabling assessment of multimodal perception and prediction. Along the functionality dimension, it extends beyond policy evaluation and planning to assess world models as interactive RL environments for policy optimization. Along the platform dimension, it moves beyond simulator-only evaluation to a diverse suite of simulated and real-world robotic settings across multiple embodiments. Under a standardized protocol, WorldArena 2.0 comprehensively evaluates perceptual quality, interactive utility, and cross-platform performance, providing a comprehensive testbed for tracking progress toward embodied world models. The benchmark is available at: https://world-arena.ai.

Key facts. Cited by 10 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in World models for navigation, one of 11 directions in World models. Builds on 46 of its 50 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 18 May 2026.

Builds on

46 of 50 references.

Closest ancestors · 4

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2026WorldArena: A Unified Benchmark for Evaluating Perception and Functional Utility of Embodied World Models9 Feb
  2. 2026Wow, wo, val! A Comprehensive Embodied World Model Evaluation Turing Test7 Jan
  3. 2025A Comprehensive Survey on World Models for Embodied AI19 Oct
  4. 2025A Survey: Learning Embodied Intelligence from Physical Simulators and World Models1 Jul

Other references · 42

  1. 2024DeepSeekMath: Pushing the Limits of Mathematical Reasoning in Open Language Modelscited by 9,379
  2. 2025Wan: Open and Advanced Large-Scale Video Generative Modelscited by 2,708
  3. 2024CogVideoX: Text-to-Video Diffusion Models with An Expert Transformercited by 2,261
  4. 2023VBench: Comprehensive Benchmark Suite for Video Generative Modelscited by 1,822
  5. 2025π0.5: a Vision-Language-Action Model with Open-World Generalizationcited by 1,761
  6. 2023Learning Fine-Grained Bimanual Manipulation with Low-Cost Hardwarecited by 1,568
  7. 2020Mastering Atari with Discrete World Modelscited by 1,007
  8. 2024WorldSimBench: Towards Video Generation Models as World Simulatorscited by 881
  9. 2024Open-Sora: Democratizing Efficient Video Production for Allcited by 652
  10. 2025RoboTwin 2.0: A Scalable Data Generator and Benchmark with Strong Domain Randomization for Robust Bimanual Robotic Manipulationcited by 518
  11. 2026World Action Models are Zero-shot Policiescited by 465
  12. 2026Fast-WAM: Do World Action Models Need Test-time Future Imagination?cited by 349
30 more
  1. 2026Causal World Modeling for Robot Controlcited by 321
  2. 2025Motus: A Unified Latent Action World Modelcited by 251
  3. 2025World Simulation with Video Foundation Models for Physical AIcited by 200
  4. 2026Qwen3.5-Omni Technical Reportcited by 174
  5. 2025Ctrl-World: A Controllable Generative World Model for Robot Manipulationcited by 167
  6. 2024Understanding World or Predicting Future? A Comprehensive Survey of World Modelscited by 166
  7. 2025WorldScore: A Unified Evaluation Benchmark for World Generationcited by 156
  8. 2024iVideoGPT: Interactive VideoGPTs are Scalable World Modelscited by 146
  9. 2025Genie Envisioner: A Unified World Foundation Platform for Robotic Manipulationcited by 137
  10. 2025WorldModelBench: Judging Video Generation Models As World Modelscited by 124
  11. 2024Is Sora a World Simulator? A Comprehensive Survey on General World Models and Beyondcited by 111
  12. 2024IRASim: A Fine-Grained World Model for Robot Manipulationcited by 100
  13. 2025WMPO: World Model-based Policy Optimization for Vision-Language-Action Modelscited by 70
  14. 2025WorldEval: World Model as Real-World Robot Policies Evaluatorcited by 68
  15. 2025WoW: Towards a World omniscient World model Through Embodied Interactioncited by 67
  16. 2025Vidar: Embodied Video Diffusion Model for Generalist Manipulationcited by 62
  17. 2025GigaWorld-0: World Models as Data Engine to Empower Embodied AIcited by 62
  18. 2025World-Env: Leveraging World Model as a Virtual Environment for VLA Post-Trainingcited by 59
  19. 2025EWMBench: Evaluating Scene, Motion, and Semantic Quality in Embodied World Modelscited by 50
  20. 2026WoVR: World Models as Reliable Simulators for Post-Training VLA Policies with RLcited by 50
  21. 2025World-in-World: World Models in a Closed-Loop Worldcited by 47
  22. 2025RoboScape: Physics-informed Embodied World Modelcited by 40
  23. 2026OmniVTA: Visuo-Tactile World Modeling for Contact-Rich Robotic Manipulationcited by 36
  24. 2026Visuo-Tactile World Modelscited by 29
  25. 2026ABot-PhysWorld: Interactive World Foundation Model for Robotic Manipulation with Physics Alignmentcited by 29
  26. 2026UniVTAC: A Unified Simulation Platform for Visuo-Tactile Manipulation Data Generation, Learning, and Benchmarkingcited by 18
  27. 2026PlayWorld: Learning Robot World Models from Autonomous Playcited by 18
  28. 2026VTAM: Video-Tactile-Action Models for Complex Physical Interaction Beyond VLAscited by 17
  29. 20254DWorldBench: A Comprehensive Evaluation Framework for 3D/4D World Generation Modelscited by 10
  30. 2025RoboScape-R: Unified Reward-Observation World Models for Generalizable Robotics Training via RLcited by 5

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Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2026: 10.

10 papers.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2026Do World Models Make Better Robots? A Survey of Evaluation Benchmarks for Predictive Embodied Intelligence
  2. 2026World Action Models: The Next Frontier in Embodied AI
  3. 2026Physically Native World Models: A Hamiltonian Perspective on Generative World Modeling
  4. 2026From World Action Models to Embodied Brains: A Roadmap for Open-World Physical Intelligence
  5. 2026How Should World Models Be Evaluated for Embodied Decision-Making? A Decision-Making-Centric Position
  6. 2026World Models for Embodied Intelligence: From Plausible to Controllable to Actionable
  7. 2025WorldLens: Full-Spectrum Evaluations of Driving World Models in Real World
  8. 2026World Model for Robot Learning: A Comprehensive Survey