In a transformative step towards inclusive science communication, the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIITH) has unveiled SARAL, an AI-powered platform that transforms dense research papers into crisp, multilingual video summaries—making cutting-edge science accessible to non-experts across India.
Backed by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), SARAL (which fittingly means ‘simple’ in Hindi) bridges the long-standing gap between complex academic research and public understanding, by converting scientific articles into slide-based video explainers in 11 Indian languages.
“We are trying to demystify not just the research paper, but the research process itself,” says Prof. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru (PK), who is leading the initiative at IIITH.
🎯 A Tool With a Purpose
SARAL was built to solve a critical problem—scientific opacity. Whether students, professionals, or curious citizens, millions struggle to make sense of jargon-heavy papers. SARAL’s end-to-end pipeline offers a solution:
- Input: Upload a paper via LaTeX, arXiv link, or PDF
- Process: AI breaks down the paper into a slide deck (Intro, Methods, Results, etc.)
- Output: A short 3–4 min video summary with voiceover, generated in the user’s chosen language and voice (male/female) using Sarvam’s Text-to-Speech engine.
The system uses large language models like Gemini, Claude, GPT, among others, to extract and translate the essence of a research article.
🛠️ Built by Students, Backed by Vision
The project team—Dr. Lakshmanan Natraj, Rahul Sundar, Imandi Sai Ganesh, Arihant Rastogi, and Vishnu Sathwik—is shaping SARAL into a multipurpose science communication engine. Inspired by tools like Google’s NotebookLM, SARAL opted for a video-first approach aligned with how academic presentations are consumed in real life.
Future versions may include animated slides, poster generation, and even tailored tools for industry-patent matching, a critical step in enabling technology transfer from lab to market.
💡 A Broader Mission: Democratising Research
SARAL is just the beginning. Under the domain Democratiseresearch.in, the IIITH-ANRF collaboration envisions a suite of AI tools to decode science for the general public, industry, policymakers, and students.
The initiative also builds on Prof. PK’s earlier national outreach programs—like PhD Clinics and the Anveshan Setu Fellowship—that provided mentorship access to students in remote academic institutions.
“We need to create formats beyond papers—threads, blogs, videos—for real societal impact. AI can influence the entire research lifecycle,” adds Prof. PK.
📢 Open to All
The SARAL tool is free to use, with open-source code available on GitHub. The team is planning hackathons and competitions to crowdsource innovation around research accessibility.
Interested collaborators, especially those in science communication, education, and regional language translation, are encouraged to join the movement.
🌐 Try it here: https://saral.democratiseresearch.in
🧬 Why It Matters
In a country with over 120 spoken languages and rapidly growing research output, SARAL is more than a translation tool—it’s a bold step toward scientific inclusivity and public engagement.
📩 For collaborations, contact Prof. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru via saral.democratiseresearch.in
Originally written by Sarita Chebbi.
Source: https://blogs.iiit.ac.in/saral/
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