Latest news with #MoScNet
India Today
2 days ago
- India Today
IIT Roorkee develops world's first AI tool to decode Modi script into Devanagari
In a major push for India's digital heritage mission, IIT Roorkee has created the world's first AI model that transliterates the ancient Modi script into Devanagari. The tool, called MoScNet, helps convert old handwritten manuscripts into readable text, making them accessible for research, education, and project, named Historic Scripts to Modern Vision, also includes a one-of-a-kind dataset -- MoDeTrans -- that has over 2,000 images of original Modi script manuscripts. These cover eras from Shivaji's time to the British period and come with verified Devanagari India, there are more than 40 million records in Modi script, from land deeds and Ayurveda texts to medieval science. With very few experts who can read the script, this AI model fills a massive research and preservation DOES THE TOOL WORK? MoScNet uses a Vision-Language Model (VLM) architecture and performs far better than existing OCR tools. It's light, scalable, and ideal for use even in low-infrastructure regions where these manuscripts are found. The AI tool was developed under Prof. Sparsh Mittal at IIT Roorkee, with help from students Harshal and Tanvi (COEP Pune) and Onkar (Vishwakarma Institute). Their work brought the model to life and shaped its real-world BHARATGPT, BHASHINI, AND GLOBAL HERITAGE EFFORTSThe model fits into big national missions like Digital India, BharatGPT, Bhashini, and even aligns with UN SDG Goal 11.4, which focuses on protecting cultural heritage. It could also be adapted globally for endangered the MoScNet model and the MoDeTrans dataset are now open-sourced on Hugging Face, allowing researchers worldwide to build on this innovation.- Ends
India Today
2 days ago
- Science
- India Today
World's first AI model cracks modi script, thanks to IIT Roorkee
IIT Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India - July 18, 2025: In a landmark initiative that bridges India's rich historical legacy with the transformative power of artificial intelligence, the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) has co-developed the world's first AI framework for transliterating the historic Modi script into Devanagari. Leveraging a Vision-Language Model (VLM) architecture, the model MoScNet offers a powerful tool for preserving medieval manuscripts and supporting large-scale digitization under initiatives like Digital India and project, titled Historic Scripts to Modern Vision, introduces MoDeTrans, the first dataset of its kind, featuring over 2,000 images of real Modi script manuscripts spanning three historical eras: Shivakalin, Peshwekalin, and Anglakalin, along with expert-verified Devanagari transliterations. The AI model MoScNet, led by Prof. Sparsh Mittal of IIT Roorkee, significantly outperforms existing OCR models and offers a scalable, lightweight solution ideal for deployment in low-resource research team also included contributions from students, Harshal and Tanvi, who pursued their studies at COEP Technological University (formerly College of Engineering, Pune) and Onkar, an alumnus of Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology, Pune. Their collaborative efforts played a key role in developing and refining the transliteration framework. Prof. Kamal Kishore Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee, said, "This work shows how we can harness the power of AI not just for automation, but to revive our cultural heritage, empower academic research, and drive nation-building. It captures the true spirit of Viksit Bharat, preserving India's timeless wisdom and making it accessible to the world through technology."With over 40 million Modi script documents spread across India, including land records, Ayurveda manuscripts, and medieval science texts, the initiative addresses a massive gap in academic and archival research. Given the limited number of Modi script experts and the deteriorating condition of these records, this transliteration technology brings unprecedented efficiency and accessibility to heritage Sparsh Mittal, Principal Investigator, added, "We aim to democratise access to India's ancient knowledge using open-source, scalable, and ethically trained AI tools. We've built a transliteration engine and set the foundation for future AI research in Indic scripts and multilingual learning."The project aims to preserve India's medieval knowledge through AI-assisted digitization, while simultaneously developing scalable, open-source tools for historians, researchers, and government archives. By enabling future integration with national platforms such as BharatGPT and Bhashini, the model supports multilingual AI capabilities and enhances access to India's cultural assets. This contributes to key national missions including Digital India, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, and the National Language Translation Mission (NLTM). It also aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11.4: "Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world's cultural and natural heritage." Furthermore, this AI framework holds the potential to be adapted for other endangered or ancient scripts globally, offering a replicable model for historical digitization across project exemplifies IIT Roorkee's commitment to innovative, inclusive, and impactful research, bridging the past with the future through responsible technology. The team has open-sourced the MoDeTrans dataset and MoScNet model on Hugging Face, ensuring global accessibility and encouraging community-driven innovation.- Ends
