Multi-Layer Visual Feature Fusion in Multimodal LLMs: Methods, Analysis, and Best Practices

Junyan Lin, Haoran Chen, Yue Fan, Yingqi Fan, Xin Jin, Hui Su, Jinlan Fu, Xiaoyu Shen; Proceedings of the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Conference (CVPR), 2025, pp. 4156-4166

Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) have made significant advancements in recent years, with visual features playing an increasingly critical role in enhancing model performance. However, the integration of multi-layer visual features in MLLMs remains underexplored, particularly with regard to optimal layer selection and fusion strategies. Existing methods often rely on arbitrary design choices, leading to suboptimal outcomes. In this paper, we systematically investigate two core aspects of multi-layer visual feature fusion: (1) selecting the most effective visual layers and (2) identifying the best fusion approach with the language model. Our experiments reveal that while combining visual features from multiple stages improves generalization, incorporating additional features from the same stage typically leads to diminished performance. Furthermore, we find that direct fusion of multi-layer visual features at the input stage consistently yields superior and more stable performance across various configurations.