Theta is a decentralized video delivery network, powered by users and an innovative new blockchain. Theta is an open source protocol purpose-built to power the decentralized streaming network and will allow for vertical decentralized apps (DApps) to be built on top of the platform to enable esports, music, TV/movies, education, enterprise conferencing, peer-to-peer streaming, and more. SLIVER.tv’s DApp will be the first application built on the Theta network leveraging its existing user base of millions of esports viewers. DSN and the Theta protocol solve various challenges the video streaming industry faces today. First, Theta tokens are used as an incentive to encourage individual users to share their redundant memory and bandwidth resources as caching nodes for video streams. This improves the quality of stream delivery and solves the “last-mile” delivery problem, the main bottleneck for traditional stream delivery pipelines, especially for high resolution high bitrate 360° virtual reality (VR) streams. Second, with sufficient amount of caching nodes, the majority of viewers will pull streams from peering caching nodes. This significantly reduces content delivery network (CDN) bandwidth costs, which is a major concern for video streaming sites. Lastly, the Theta network greatly improves the streaming market efficiency by streamlining the video delivery process. For example, advertisers can target end viewers at a lower cost and reward influencers more transparently.The Theta blockchain introduces three novel concepts: Reputation Dependent Mining: In the Theta protocol, the caching nodes play the role of miners in the blockchain. The block reward is not a constant, but depends on the reputation score of the caching node that mined the block. To obtain more mining rewards, miners not only spend computation power to mine blocks, but also relay video streams to downstream viewers to increase their reputation scores. Global Reputation Consensus: We propose a mechanism for the Theta network to reach the global consensus on the reputation scores for each caching node. Proof-of-Engagement: We introduce a novel Proof-of-Engagement scheme to prove that viewers legitimately consume the video streams, providing better transparency to advertisers and a basis for viewers to earn Theta tokens for engaging with the content.
Consensus is the open-sourced, decentralized artificial intelligence platform, powered by native cryptocurrency, and built with the vision to improve the governance mechanisms at all levels of organizational structures: community, startup, non-profit, enterprise, city, county or the entire country. Once fully realized, Consensus AI will be able to offer automated, data-driven solutions to the most complex problems of our collective co-existence by modelling the potential outcomes of proposed changes. Consensus will help govern communities, societies and countries in a more cost efficient, transparent and progressive manner. This will be implemented via collective voting, initiatives proposal and funding, execution reporting and intelligent algorithms that will perform project analysis and model the outcomes with the efficiency, budgetary concerns, social, environmental and other factors under consideration. Mission The mission of Consensus is to achieve collective governance based on interdependence using advanced technologies. Abstract There are three main components to the Consensus system: the Sentient blockchain network built with verified nodes that allows running distributed machine learning, the Research Platform with extended data collection and modelling capabilities and the AI Advisor — a standalone system constantly monitoring and learning from the incoming available data that is used to make predictions. Later stages of development will include internally and externally built Dapps for various governance applications.