Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) are experiencing rapid growth,
yielding a plethora of noteworthy contributions in recent months. The
prevailing trend involves adopting data-driven methodologies, wherein diverse
instruction-following datasets are collected. However, a prevailing challenge
persists in these approaches, specifically in relation to the limited visual
perception ability, as CLIP-like encoders employed for extracting visual
information from inputs. Though these encoders are pre-trained on billions of
image-text pairs, they still grapple with the information loss dilemma, given
that textual captions only partially capture the contents depicted in images.
To address this limitation, this paper proposes to improve the visual
perception ability of MLLMs through a mixture-of-experts knowledge enhancement
mechanism. Specifically, we introduce a novel method that incorporates
multi-task encoders and visual tools into the existing MLLMs training and
inference pipeline, aiming to provide a more comprehensive and accurate
summarization of visual inputs. Extensive experiments have evaluated its
effectiveness of advancing MLLMs, showcasing improved visual perception
achieved through the integration of visual experts.

Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) have been gaining momentum in recent months, thanks to their ability to generate meaningful content by leveraging both text and visual inputs. However, a significant challenge that researchers face when working with MLLMs is the limited visual perception ability of these models.

The existing approach involves using CLIP-like encoders to extract visual information from inputs. These encoders are pre-trained on billions of image-text pairs but still struggle with information loss due to the partial capture of contents in textual captions.

To overcome this limitation, this paper proposes a novel method that enhances the visual perception ability of MLLMs by incorporating a mixture-of-experts knowledge enhancement mechanism. This approach integrates multi-task encoders and visual tools into the training and inference pipeline of MLLMs, enabling a more comprehensive and accurate summarization of visual inputs.

The significance of this research lies in its multi-disciplinary nature. It combines elements from various domains such as natural language processing, computer vision, and artificial intelligence. By leveraging the strengths of different disciplines, the proposed method aims to improve the overall performance of MLLMs when it comes to understanding and generating content based on visual inputs.

In the wider field of multimedia information systems, this research contributes to bridging the gap between textual and visual information processing. With the integration of visual experts into MLLMs, the models become more adept at understanding and leveraging visual cues, leading to enhanced performance in tasks such as image captioning, visual question answering, and content generation.

Additioally, this work has implications for the advancements in Animations, Artificial Reality, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Realities. With better visual perception ability, MLLMs can play a crucial role in generating realistic animations, improving the user experience in artificial and augmented reality applications, and enabling more immersive virtual reality environments. By training MLLMs to understand and interpret visual inputs effectively, these technologies can benefit from more accurate and context-aware content generation.

In conclusion, the proposed method for enhancing the visual perception ability of MLLMs through a mixture-of-experts knowledge enhancement mechanism presents a promising avenue for advancing these models. By incorporating multi-task encoders and visual tools, the proposed approach enables MLLMs to have a more comprehensive understanding of visual inputs, thereby improving their performance across various domains including multimedia information systems, animations, artificial reality, augmented reality, and virtual realities.

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