# 3D and spatial-aware VLA

Area: [Vision-language-action models](https://mlsanity.com/vla/index.md). HTML: https://mlsanity.com/vla/3d-and-spatial-aware-vla/

## Key facts

- 3D and spatial-aware VLA: 129 papers on arXiv since 2023 (data through 7 Oct 2026).
- 71 of its 129 mapped papers (55%) cite “SpatialVLA: Exploring Spatial Representations for Visual-Language-Action Model” (2025, arXiv 2501.15830).
- 42 of its 129 mapped papers (33%) cite “3D-VLA: A 3D Vision-Language-Action Generative World Model” (2024, arXiv 2403.09631).
- 13 new papers 17 Sep–7 Oct.

## Most cited here

- [SpatialVLA: Exploring Spatial Representations for Visual-Language-Action Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.15830/) (2025), cited by 71 papers here
- [3D-VLA: A 3D Vision-Language-Action Generative World Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.09631/) (2024), cited by 42 papers here
- [PointVLA: Injecting the 3D World into Vision-Language-Action Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.07511/) (2025), cited by 36 papers here
- [TraceVLA: Visual Trace Prompting Enhances Spatial-Temporal Awareness for Generalist Robotic Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.10345/) (2024), cited by 32 papers here
- [GeoVLA: Empowering 3D Representations in Vision-Language-Action Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.09071/) (2025), cited by 27 papers here
- [Spatial Forcing: Implicit Spatial Representation Alignment for Vision-language-action Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.12276/) (2025), cited by 26 papers here
- [BridgeVLA: Input-Output Alignment for Efficient 3D Manipulation Learning with Vision-Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.07961/) (2025), cited by 24 papers here
- [4D-VLA: Spatiotemporal Vision-Language-Action Pretraining with Cross-Scene Calibration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.22242/) (2025), cited by 18 papers here
- [Evo-0: Vision-Language-Action Model with Implicit Spatial Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.00416/) (2025), cited by 18 papers here
- [3D CAVLA: Leveraging Depth and 3D Context to Generalize Vision Language Action Models for Unseen Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.05800/) (2025), cited by 16 papers here

## New (17 Sep–7 Oct)

- [GeoBridge-VLA: Geometry-Aware Residual Adaptation for Vision-Language-Action Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.05026/) (2026-10-04)
- [ExStereo: Lifting 2D Vision-Language-Action Models to 3D with Explicit Stereo Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.04805/) (2026-10-03)
- [ChunkVLA-AM: Parallel Action Chunking for Vision-Language-Action Robot Control in Additive Manufacturing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.01856/) (2026-10-01)
- [Correcting WHERE, Preserving HOW: Compositional Generalization for Vision-Language-Action Models via Referential Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.38616/) (2026-09-29)
- [Beyond Token Importance: Preserving Spatial Scaffolds for Efficient Vision-Language-Action Inference](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.36967/) (2026-09-29)
- [Spatial Grafting: Grounding 3D Features for Flow-Matching Robot Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.35249/) (2026-09-28)
- [InfiNoVA: Infinite Novel View Augmentation for Viewpoint Invariant Robot Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.27734/) (2026-09-23)
- [HABILIS Brain 0: Geometry-Change Supervision for Vision-Language-Action and Residual Flow Recovery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.25558/) (2026-09-22)
- [PanoFuse: Panorama-Enhanced Vision-Language-Action Learning with Decoupled Semantic-Geometric Routing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.31717/) (2026-09-21)
- [Bridge3D: Enabling Vision-Language-Action Models to See and Act in 3D](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.24525/) (2026-09-21)
- [Topology-Informed Visual Prompting For Vision Language Action Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.23944/) (2026-09-20)
- [Grounded Action Model: 3D Grounding as a Foundation for Robotics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.23863/) (2026-09-20)
- [FOCAL-VLA: Subtask-Guided Geometry Distillation and Implicit World Modeling for Vision-Language-Action Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.21228/) (2026-09-18)