NC AI Releases VARCO VISION 2.0 1.7B as Open Source for Research

3B-Class Performance with 1.7B Parameters
Protecting Privacy and Enabling Real-Time Processing

NC AI unveiled an ultra-lightweight multimodal VLM. The photo shows a demonstration of Barcovision 2.0 at Gyeongbokgung. Photo by NC AI

On July 30, NC AI announced the release of its ultra-lightweight multimodal AI model, 'VARCO VISION 2.0 1.7B,' which can run directly on personal devices.

According to NC AI, despite its small size of 1.7B (1.7 billion) parameters, the newly released model delivers performance that surpasses existing lightweight models. As a next-generation AI model capable of understanding both images and text to answer questions, it can analyze multiple images simultaneously and effectively process complex documents, tables, and charts.

VARCO VISION 2.0 1.7B achieved performance equal to or better than 3B-class models, such as Kakao's Kanana 3B and Naver's HyperCLOVA 3B, which are twice as large, on both the MMMU benchmark for verifying university-level knowledge and the AI2D benchmark for evaluating scientific chart image interpretation.

VARCO-VISION 2.0 VLM Performance Benchmark Graph. Image by NC AI

The lightweight model with 1.7B parameters is optimized to run smoothly on personal devices such as smartphones or PCs. It overcomes the limitations of most existing multimodal AI, which could only be used in cloud environments, by enabling high-performance multimodal AI to be used directly on personal devices.

The core advantages of on-device AI are privacy protection and real-time processing capability. User data is not transmitted to external servers, and AI functions can be used even without a network connection.

This model is a follow-up to the mid-sized model 'VARCO VISION 2.0 14B,' which was released on July 16. The 14B model recorded nearly 10,000 downloads within ten days of its release.

NC AI is also releasing the 1.7B model as open source for research purposes. Currently participating in the government's 'Independent AI Foundation Model Project,' NC AI plans to enhance nationwide AI accessibility and strengthen national AI competitiveness, leveraging its experience in operating vertical AI services across various industries such as fashion, gaming, and media.