The problem with trends is that they attract bandwagon-jumpers: projects promising the world and delivering little, as well as users who blindly follow the herd without a clear idea of what they want. Nowhere is this more evident than in the fast-evolving field of AI.
The number of projects leveraging AI has surged over the past 18 months, a consequence of ChatGPT’s extraordinary success. While some of these ventures genuinely strive to bring something unique to the world, others have simply boarded the hype train in service to their own ambition.
One project that’s definitely in the former category is the posemesh, a decentralized spatial computing protocol developed by tech firm Auki Labs. A futuristic innovation operating at the intersection of many transformative technologies – AI, AR, the metaverse, and smart cities to name a few – the posemesh has lofty ambitions. Chief among them to revolutionize the way we all interact with digital and physical spaces.
From Multiplayer to Macro
Originally conceived as a platform for immersive, ad-hoc multiplayer augmented reality (AR) experiences, the posemesh has grown arms and legs over the last two years, evolution credited to its talented, tireless team of over 40 researchers and developers. Now, the vision is about facilitating persistent AR experiences in interior spaces not currently serviced by modern technologies.
In simple terms, the spatial computing network is designed to support the next 100 billion people, devices, and AI, paving the way for shared AR and machine proprioception (i.e., equipping robots with the ability to learn about the physical environment). The best way to describe this is perhaps the anchoring of digital information in physical space: bringing the power of the internet into the corporeal world.
Backed by multiple tech-centric VC firms, Auki Labs is managing a war chest of $15 million to build out the range of services linked to the expanding posemesh, secure key partnerships with industry leaders (including governments), and extend its global reach. At present, the project has staff representation in Switzerland, Hong Kong, America, Europe, and APAC regions, with pilot applications also underway or scheduled in a variety of territories, including North America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia.
The services that come under the posemesh umbrella, meanwhile, include:
• A decentralized protocol for collaborative spatial computing and extended reality (XR)
• A domain service handling spatio-semantic data about physical spaces
• An SDK enabling custom app creation on top of the protocol
• A blockchain-enabled reputation and rewards system
The real-world applications of the posemesh are vast and far-reaching, encompassing areas such as retail, logistics, maintenance, and gaming. For the moment, retail appears to be the front-runner as far as posemesh adoption is concerned.
One recent implementation of the technology saw the creation of a clever prototype: an AI store manager that leverages the posemesh’s real-time spatial data to survey the interior of a store and make recommendations for the human employees on which tasks they should perform.
It’s easy to imagine how this prototype and others could evolve, not just in retail environments like shopping malls but also in hospitals, sports stadiums, conference centers, banks, prisons, warehouses, and even government buildings. The posemesh could help with crowd/risk management, staffing, automation, and much more.
This prototype is notable because it represents a genuine AI use case, an example of something legitimately groundbreaking: spatial AI. If AI can be equipped with spatial awareness, the number of potential enterprise use cases will be extraordinary.
A Vision Beyond Technology
Some of these use cases will be showcased at what the posemesh team calls its Level 10 Research Center, an enormous demo space occupying an entire floor of a skyscraper. This domain, which boasts a demo grocery store that acts as a testing ground for AR experiences, is the perfect venue for exploring how the project’s tech can enhance the smart cities, smart spaces, and robotics of the future.
The vision of the posemesh extends beyond mere technology; it represents a fundamental shift in how human beings interact with the world. By bridging the gap between the digital and physical realms, the posemesh is ushering in a new era of spatial communication, one where boundaries dissolve and possibilities abound.
As the posemesh continues to push the boundaries of spatial computing, one thing is certain: the future of human communication has never looked more promising. With the posemesh leading the way, the possibilities are limitless.
