Now, that spirit is being further empowered by AI, a new tool that opens the way to continuing this legacy in the language of the digital age.
The dream of a "collective memory library" from AI.
Comemo.vn is one of the pioneering efforts in applying AI to heritage preservation in Vietnam. Developed by Nguyen Thai Anh, who has many years of experience in AI application and solution consulting in Germany, this application allows the extraction of ancient patterns from photographs into various digital formats.
Nguyen Thai Anh recounts that the idea for Comemo was formed when he realized that the restoration of ancient patterns still relied mainly on manual methods, which were time-consuming and prone to errors. For him, patterns are not just decorative details, but aesthetic memories and knowledge of the past embedded in each line. However, today, these treasures are being copied carelessly, superficially, and abused under the guise of "promoting national culture."
"A single careless brushstroke can diminish the spirit of an entire heritage. I don't want AI to replace humans, but only to do the heavy lifting so that we have more time to appreciate and create from our heritage," said Thai Anh.
In September 2025, he officially introduced a demo of his AI-powered technology for extracting ancient patterns from photographs of artifacts and scanned documents. The system can identify pattern details, recreate them into line drawings, simulate depth, create lithographic sketches, 2D flat graphics, and export vector (SVG) files for professional design.
Users can take photos on location, save them to their personal library, or share them with the community, all aimed at building a "collective memory library" of Vietnamese patterns. After just one month of testing, on October 1, 2025, Comemo entered the Open Beta phase with over 800 users and nearly 10,000 image processing sessions – numbers that demonstrate significant interest from the research and creative community.
Preserving the soul of heritage in the digital space.
Beyond fine arts and archaeology, AI is proving to play an increasingly important role in the social sciences and humanities. With its ability to process massive amounts of data and recognize complex patterns, AI is helping researchers overcome the limitations of traditional methods.
In Vietnam, the National Archives Center I has digitized over 80,000 pages of Nguyen Dynasty documents; the NomNaOCR project of the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City has digitized thousands of pages of Han Nom script; and the University of Science has developed a system for translating from Nom script to the Vietnamese Quốc ngữ script...
All of this points to a new trend: digitization is not just for preservation, but also for the revitalization of heritage. When used correctly, technology does not diminish traditional values, but helps us see our heritage more clearly, more closely, and live with it for longer.
Photographer Le Bich, founder of the Hoa Van Co group, commented that the Comemo project, although still in the testing phase, has enormous potential as a useful AI application with a strong community focus. Feedback from the testing community also indicates that the Comemo.vn system operates stably, allowing for the reproduction of patterns with high detail and accuracy.
The tool proves particularly useful when handling artifacts with sensitive surfaces that are difficult to access manually, even simulating missing parts, and opens up possibilities for studying specimens that are out of reach, including in foreign museums.
As someone who accessed and tested Comemo quite early, Mr. Ly Hoa Binh (Education and Communication Department, Da Nang Cham Sculpture Museum) said: “Testing the application on some sculptures at the museum, what impressed me was the simple operation and the quality of the extracted patterns with an accuracy of 80-90% compared to the original motifs, which is superior to previously available tools.”
"This application can significantly save time and manpower in creating illustrations and designing publications for the Cham Museum's heritage education and communication efforts, while also providing a rich source of data to make museum communication products more vibrant and engaging," he remarked.
Dr. Ha Thi Suong, an archaeologist working at the Da Nang Museum, tested the application and commented: “The application helps extract motifs from pottery, reliefs, bronze drums, paintings, etc., to create a database of folk motifs, contributing to the digital storage of traditional cultural symbols, making comparison and analysis easier. If perfected, this tool could become a platform for building a symbology database to create a digital map of regional symbols.”
Nguyen Thai Anh stated that the project is currently being run using personal resources, but it still has a policy of providing support in terms of accounts and independent systems for researchers, artisans, museums, and academic institutions with in-depth needs, with the hope that everyone will work together and share data to enrich the common archive.
“For me, Comemo is not just a tool, but a journey of resonance – a way to preserve cultural memories using the language of the new era, where technology and people work together to preserve heritage. It is also my way of showing gratitude to Vietnamese culture,” he shared.
Source: https://baodanang.vn/giu-hon-di-san-3306693.html
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