mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

Enfold: Folding World Model Imagination into Predictive Representations for Ultra-Efficient Embodied Control

arXiv 2607.26657 ↗First posted 29 Jul 2026cs.RO cs.CVcited by 3

On the map: World models → Embodied and robot world models

Abstract (arXiv)

World generative models are typically used through what they produce: a rendered future, a video-conditioned action, or latent context computed by a costly generative branch. We argue that their more reusable asset is the computation that constructs a future. As a generator transforms a corrupted future into a coherent trajectory, its intermediate states organize appearance, spatial layout, and interaction across levels of abstraction. Can this future-generative computation be internalized in a representation inferred from the present alone? We present Enfold, which transfers this computation into a representation predicted from the current visual context and language instruction. During training, multi-level states exposed as the generator processes the observed future supervise a current-only encoder. The learned representation is fed back to condition future generation and is read by task heads without allowing task gradients to reshape the encoder. At deployment, action prediction no longer executes the generator. Across LIBERO, RoboTwin2.0, and real-robot tasks, Enfold supports strong control while reducing action latency by 3.7× relative to Fast--WAM, Enfold-Flash reaches 10.1×. Representation analyses show that it suppresses nuisance variation and preferentially captures changes that emerge over longer horizons. When the current scene is altered by human intervention, both the generated continuation and the executed actions adapt, which is inconsistent with fixed trajectory replay. These results recast a world generator as a source of predictive control representations: its future need not be materialized at every step if its internal structure can be enfolded into the present.

Key facts. Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Embodied and robot world models, one of 11 directions in World models. Builds on 56 of its 59 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 29 Jul 2026.

Builds on

56 of 59 references.

Closest ancestors · 16

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2026ImageWAM: Do World Action Models Really Need Video Generation, or Just Image Editing?17 Jun
  2. 2026MaskWAM: Unifying Mask Prompting and Prediction for World-Action Models11 Jun
  3. 2026AHA-WAM:Asynchronous Horizon-Adaptive World-Action Modeling with Observation-Guided Context Routing8 Jun
  4. 2026Being-H0.7: A Latent World-Action Model from Egocentric Videos30 Apr
  5. 2026Fast-WAM: Do World Action Models Need Test-time Future Imagination?17 Mar
  6. 2026World Action Models are Zero-shot Policies17 Feb
  7. 2026VLA-JEPA: Enhancing Vision-Language-Action Model with Latent World Model10 Feb
  8. 2026Causal World Modeling for Robot Control29 Jan
  9. 2025Motus: A Unified Latent Action World Model15 Dec
  10. 2025villa-X: Enhancing Latent Action Modeling in Vision-Language-Action Models31 Jul
  11. 2025V-JEPA 2: Self-Supervised Video Models Enable Understanding, Prediction and Planning11 Jun
  12. 2025AdaWorld: Learning Adaptable World Models with Latent Actions24 Mar
4 more
  1. 2024Predictive Inverse Dynamics Models are Scalable Learners for Robotic Manipulation19 Dec
  2. 2024IGOR: Image-GOal Representations are the Atomic Control Units for Foundation Models in Embodied AI17 Oct
  3. 2023Learning to Act without Actions17 Dec
  4. 2023Zero-Shot Robotic Manipulation with Pretrained Image-Editing Diffusion Models16 Oct

Other references · 40

  1. 2018The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Deep Features as a Perceptual Metriccited by 11,029
  2. 2022Flow Matching for Generative Modelingcited by 5,426
  3. 2023RT-2: Vision-Language-Action Models Transfer Web Knowledge to Robotic Controlcited by 2,993
  4. 2024OpenVLA: An Open-Source Vision-Language-Action Modelcited by 2,777
  5. 2024π0: A Vision-Language-Action Flow Model for General Robot Controlcited by 2,297
  6. 2022RT-1: Robotics Transformer for Real-World Control at Scalecited by 2,007
  7. 2025π0.5: a Vision-Language-Action Model with Open-World Generalizationcited by 1,653
  8. 2023LIBERO: Benchmarking Knowledge Transfer for Lifelong Robot Learningcited by 1,338
  9. 2025DINOv3cited by 1,297
  10. 2023Self-Supervised Learning from Images with a Joint-Embedding Predictive Architecturecited by 982
  11. 2025Fine-Tuning Vision-Language-Action Models: Optimizing Speed and Successcited by 844
  12. 2025Cosmos World Foundation Model Platform for Physical AIcited by 833
28 more
  1. 2024Genie: Generative Interactive Environmentscited by 706
  2. 2024RDT-1B: a Diffusion Foundation Model for Bimanual Manipulationcited by 670
  3. 2023Learning Universal Policies via Text-Guided Video Generationcited by 506
  4. 2024Revisiting Feature Prediction for Learning Visual Representations from Videocited by 490
  5. 2025RoboTwin 2.0: A Scalable Data Generator and Benchmark with Strong Domain Randomization for Robust Bimanual Robotic Manipulationcited by 477
  6. 2025UniVLA: Learning to Act Anywhere with Task-centric Latent Actionscited by 386
  7. 2024DINO-WM: World Models on Pre-trained Visual Features enable Zero-shot Planningcited by 357
  8. 2024Latent Action Pretraining from Videoscited by 302
  9. 2024TraceVLA: Visual Trace Prompting Enhances Spatial-Temporal Awareness for Generalist Robotic Policiescited by 298
  10. 2025X-VLA: Soft-Prompted Transformer as Scalable Cross-Embodiment Vision-Language-Action Modelcited by 285
  11. 2024Video Prediction Policy: A Generalist Robot Policy with Predictive Visual Representationscited by 279
  12. 2026Cosmos Policy: Fine-Tuning Video Models for Visuomotor Control and Planningcited by 274
  13. 2025HybridVLA: Collaborative Diffusion and Autoregression in a Unified Vision-Language-Action Modelcited by 176
  14. 2023Video Language Planningcited by 160
  15. 2025Cosmos-Reason1: From Physical Common Sense To Embodied Reasoningcited by 159
  16. 2026Cosmos 3: Omnimodal World Models for Physical AIcited by 137
  17. 2026A Pragmatic VLA Foundation Modelcited by 97
  18. 2026ABot-M0: VLA Foundation Model for Robotic Manipulation with Action Manifold Learningcited by 94
  19. 2025Discrete Diffusion VLA: Bringing Discrete Diffusion to Action Decoding in Vision-Language-Action Policiescited by 90
  20. 2025F1: A Vision-Language-Action Model Bridging Understanding and Generation to Actionscited by 85
  21. 2024Moto: Latent Motion Token as the Bridging Language for Learning Robot Manipulation from Videoscited by 65
  22. 2024Closed-Loop Visuomotor Control with Generative Expectation for Robotic Manipulationcited by 51
  23. 2025Unified Diffusion VLA: Vision-Language-Action Model via Joint Discrete Denoising Diffusion Processcited by 37
  24. 2026Native Video-Action Pretraining for Generalizable Robot Controlcited by 30
  25. 2024GHIL-Glue: Hierarchical Control with Filtered Subgoal Imagescited by 14
  26. 2025Mantis: A Versatile Vision-Language-Action Model with Disentangled Visual Foresightcited by 12
  27. 2026Latent Bridge: Feature Delta Prediction for Efficient Dual-System Vision-Language-Action Model Inferencecited by 4
  28. 2026R3DP: Real-Time 3D-Aware Policy for Embodied Manipulationcited by 2

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2026: 3.

3 papers.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2025EnerVerse: Envisioning Embodied Future Space for Robotics Manipulation
  2. 2026DELE-w0.5: Inferring Action from Future Latent State for Robotic Manipulation
  3. 2026ω-EVA: Envision, Verify, and Act with Latent Interactive World Models
  4. 2026WALL-SS: Scaling Long-horizon World Models via Next-Scale Autoregression
  5. 2026One from Infinity: Actualizing Futures from Pretrained World Models into Robot Actions
  6. 2026An Action Is Worth One Patch: Unified World-Action Modeling with PatchWAM
  7. 2025Genie Envisioner: A Unified World Foundation Platform for Robotic Manipulation
  8. 2026GE-Act 2.0: Pretraining and Scaling a World-Action Model for Robotic Manipulation