# φ-Scene: Physically Grounded Image-to-3D Scene Reconstruction

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.21596 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.21596/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 59 of its 73 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 19 Jun 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 59)

- [Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00020/) (2021)
- [3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Field Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04079/) (2023)
- [DeepSDF: Learning Continuous Signed Distance Functions for Shape Representation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.05103/) (2019)
- [Objaverse: A Universe of Annotated 3D Objects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.08051/) (2022)
- [Zero-1-to-3: Zero-shot One Image to 3D Object](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.11328/) (2023)
- [Depth Anything V2](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09414/) (2024)
- [Depth Anything: Unleashing the Power of Large-Scale Unlabeled Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.10891/) (2024)
- [MVDream: Multi-view Diffusion for 3D Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.16512/) (2023)
- [LRM: Large Reconstruction Model for Single Image to 3D](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.04400/) (2023)
- [Objaverse-XL: A Universe of 10M+ 3D Objects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.05663/) (2023)
- [Structured 3D Latents for Scalable and Versatile 3D Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.01506/) (2024)
- [Wonder3D: Single Image to 3D using Cross-Domain Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.15008/) (2023)
- [SyncDreamer: Generating Multiview-consistent Images from a Single-view Image](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.03453/) (2023)
- [One-2-3-45: Any Single Image to 3D Mesh in 45 Seconds without Per-Shape Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.16928/) (2023)
- [Zero123++: a Single Image to Consistent Multi-view Diffusion Base Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.15110/) (2023)
- [Deep Marching Tetrahedra: a Hybrid Representation for High-Resolution 3D Shape Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.04276/) (2021)
- [InstantMesh: Efficient 3D Mesh Generation from a Single Image with Sparse-view Large Reconstruction Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.07191/) (2024)
- [Magic123: One Image to High-Quality 3D Object Generation Using Both 2D and 3D Diffusion Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.17843/) (2023)
- [3D-FRONT: 3D Furnished Rooms with layOuts and semaNTics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.09127/) (2020)
- [PhysGaussian: Physics-Integrated 3D Gaussians for Generative Dynamics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.12198/) (2023)
- [MoGe: Unlocking Accurate Monocular Geometry Estimation for Open-Domain Images with Optimal Training Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.19115/) (2024)
- [LucidDreamer: Towards High-Fidelity Text-to-3D Generation via Interval Score Matching](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.11284/) (2023)
- [One-2-3-45++: Fast Single Image to 3D Objects with Consistent Multi-View Generation and 3D Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.07885/) (2023)
- [Holodeck: Language Guided Generation of 3D Embodied AI Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.09067/) (2023)
- [MoGe-2: Accurate Monocular Geometry with Metric Scale and Sharp Details](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.02546/) (2025)
- [ImageDream: Image-Prompt Multi-view Diffusion for 3D Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.02201/) (2023)
- [SAM 3D: 3Dfy Anything in Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.16624/) (2025)
- [TripoSR: Fast 3D Object Reconstruction from a Single Image](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.02151/) (2024)
- [TripoSG: High-Fidelity 3D Shape Synthesis using Large-Scale Rectified Flow Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.06608/) (2025)
- [Native and Compact Structured Latents for 3D Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.14692/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Learning How the World Evolves: Extrapolative Video World Models via Latent Dynamics Reasoning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.09926/) (2026)
- [CoDimRecon: Agentic Reconstruction of Sim-Ready 3D Scenes with Deformable Curves, Surfaces, and Volumes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.36024/) (2026)
- [Tetris3D: 3D Scene Generation With Objects That Fit Together](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.10539/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Recent image-to-3D scene methods recover high-fidelity 3D objects with plausible arrangements, but often leave floatings and interpenetrations that limit physical validity and downstream use in interactive environments. We present φ-Scene, a physically grounded approach for open-vocabulary and compositional image-to-3D scene reconstruction that treats a scene not merely as a set of objects with predicted poses, but as a globally stable physical system. φ-Scene formulates reconstruction as topology-driven physical assembly: given an initial scene of reconstructed objects, it infers how objects support one another and settles them one by one in topological order. For each object, SDF-based optimization first resolves penetrations against the already-settled support context, and rigid-body simulation then settles the object into a stable equilibrium under real-world physical constraints. The resulting scene stays aligned to the reference image, with every object resting at a physically valid, stable contact configuration. On the 3D-Front benchmark, φ-Scene achieves the strongest overall performance among out-of-domain methods and remains highly competitive with in-domain baselines on standard reconstruction metrics. Human and MLLM studies prefer φ-Scene in visual quality, reference alignment, and physical plausibility. Dedicated physical metrics show that it substantially reduces penetration artifacts and yields much lower post-simulation drift. To our knowledge, φ-Scene is among the first image-to-3D scene reconstruction methods that explicitly reaches dynamic rigid-body equilibrium while preserving reference alignment.