Knowledge & Data · Software component
Multimodal Retriever
Software componentKnowledge & DataKnowledge & DataVariation point (abstract)arc:MultimodalRetriever
An abstract retriever that returns the most relevant items for a query across text, image, and audio content, whatever modality they originated in.
Responsibility. Retrieves query-relevant content across modalities.
Also known as: Multimodal RAG retrieval
Variant of Retriever abstract
Variants
| Variant | When to choose |
|---|---|
| Grounded Text Retriever | Choose for information-dense visuals (financial reports, scientific charts, technical diagrams) where precise chart content must be retrievable and existing text RAG infrastructure should stay unchanged. |
| Per-Modality Fan-Out Retriever | Choose for research or experimentation with best-in-class per-modality embedding models, or mature-MLOps production systems able to absorb the extra complexity and cost. |
| Unified Embedding Retriever | Choose for general imagery, rapid prototyping, or minimal change to an existing text RAG stack with a single vector store. |
Relationships
reads dependency
- Vector Index Store abstract Ch2.7 Ref2.07
Classification
- Patterns
- Multimodal RAG
- Quality attributes
- Functional suitability: correctness and validity (ISO/IEC 25010 | NIST AI RMF: valid)
Sources
- Ch2.7: T. Nguyen, "Multimodal RAG Approaches," in Mastering Agentic AI Systems: Guide for the NVIDIA NCP-AAI Exam, 1st ed. 2026, ch. 2.7. ISBN: 9798244538229.