Shani-Sinojiya/SandalQuest

AI/ML project for recognizing colloquial Kannada speech and building a speech-based Q&A system focused on sandalwood cultivation. # SandalQuest - AI/ML Hackathon Project ### ML-Fiesta: AI/ML Hackathon ##### International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Bangalore ## Project Overview​ The goal is to utilize AI and machine learning to develop a pipeline that processes and understands audio content related to sandalwood cultivation. We are focusing on creating: - An Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) model for the Kannada language. - A speech-based question-answering system to help users access information from the audio data.​ ### Project Objectives:​ - Develop an ASR model that accurately recognizes colloquial Kannada speech. - Create a searchable audio database using the ASR output. - Implement a question-answering system allowing users to ask questions via speech input. ## Problem Statement​ Karnataka is a key region for sandalwood, which holds significant cultural, religious, and economic value in India. However, much of the traditional knowledge around sandalwood cultivation is conveyed informally and captured in audio recordings. These resources are not easily accessible, and there's a need to digitize and preserve this indigenous knowledge. The main challenge is handling colloquial Kannada speech with background noise, as it differs from standard formal language.​ ### Challenges:​ - Limited digital information on sandalwood cultivation.​ - Audio recordings often contain noise and informal language.​ - Standard ASR models struggle with colloquial language.​ ## Scope The project includes:​ - Building a Kannada ASR model for colloquial language recognition.​ - Creating a searchable database by transcribing audio files.​ - Developing a speech-based question-answering system to query the audio corpus.​ - Fine-tuning the ASR model using both provided and publicly available Kannada datasets.​ ### Out of Scope:​ - Processing audio in languages other than Kannada.​ - Real-time transcription of live streams.​ - Handling complex multi-turn dialogues.​ ## Dataset Descripti …