LAST: Bridging Vision-Language and Action Manifolds via Gromov-Wasserstein Alignment
On the map: Vision-language-action models → 3D and spatial-aware VLA
Abstract (arXiv)
We take a Gromov-Wasserstein perspective on Vision-Language-Action (VLA) learning, where the goal is to make the relational geometry of action representations compatible with the semantic geometry of VL embeddings. However, this alignment is non-trivial due to the mathematical heterogeneity between the domains: the semantic space of vision-language is topologically linear and isotropic, whereas the physical manifold of robotic action is non-Euclidean and anisotropic. Their disjoint metric structures render direct regression ill-posed. To resolve this incompatibility, we introduce LAST (Lie-algebraic Action Space Tokenizer), which reconstructs the action space to establish local metric compatibility with the VL modality via a two-stage transformation: (1) Global Topological Linearization: linearizing the action manifold via Lie-algebraic mapping, converting trajectories into a fixed-length, physically additive representation. (2) Local Metric Discretization: hierarchically discretizing the representation into schemas and whitened residuals, yielding approximately isotropic local charts that are statistically aligned with the semantic metric. By resolving the structural mismatch at both global and local levels, LAST enables VLA models with superior convergence and generalizability.
Key facts. Cited by 1 paper in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in 3D and spatial-aware VLA, one of 13 directions in Vision-language-action models. Builds on 13 of its 32 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 27 May 2026.
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13 of 32 references.
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Other references · 12
- 2021Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervisioncited by 33,456
- 2025Qwen2.5-VL Technical Reportcited by 5,418
- 2024π0: A Vision-Language-Action Flow Model for General Robot Controlcited by 2,297
- 2021Geometric Deep Learning: Grids, Groups, Graphs, Geodesics, and Gaugescited by 1,131
- 2025Fine-Tuning Vision-Language-Action Models: Optimizing Speed and Successcited by 844
- 2025FAST: Efficient Action Tokenization for Vision-Language-Action Modelscited by 643
- 2024Evaluating Real-World Robot Manipulation Policies in Simulationcited by 484
- 2017Latent Space Oddity: on the Curvature of Deep Generative Modelscited by 169
- 2018A micro Lie theory for state estimation in roboticscited by 117
- 2024What Matters in Building Vision-Language-Action Models for Generalist Robotscited by 88
- 2025Cross the Gap: Exposing the Intra-modal Misalignment in CLIP via Modality Inversioncited by 42
- 2025BEAST: Efficient Tokenization of B-Splines Encoded Action Sequences for Imitation Learningcited by 25
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Citing papers per year: 2026: 1.
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- 2026V-Link: Recovering Lost Visual Representations in Action DiT for Vision-Language-Action Models
- 2026G3VLA: Geometric inductive bias for Vision-Language-Action Models
- 2026Lost in Reconstruction: Aligning Action Representations with Language in Vision-Language-Action Models
- 2026PAIR: Bridging Perception and Action in Vision-Language-Action Models
- 2026GEAR-VLA: Learning Geometry-Aware Action Representations for Generalizable Robotic Manipulation
- 2025XR-1: Towards Versatile Vision-Language-Action Models via Learning Unified Vision-Motion Representations
- 2026QuoVLA: Quotient Space for Vision-Language-Action Models
- 2026LARA: Latent Action Representation Alignment for Vision-Language-Action Models