The way humans communicate and coordinate continues to evolve. From sending smoke signals and messengers on horseback to sending letters and telegrams, the pace of innovation has exploded since the dawn of the digital age.
Today, hundreds or even thousands of people from around the world can gather in a Twitter Space or Zoom call and communicate almost instantly. But people still communicate primarily through centralized platforms, which retain and profit from user data, suffer disruptions, have the power to censor speech, and face severe lags.
So, what would a decentralized Web3 version of a communication and conferencing platform like Zoom or Google Meet look like? To find out, Jonathan DeYoung and Ray Salmond sat down with Ayush Ranjan, co-founder and CEO of Huddle01, in Episode 24 of Web3 Meetings and Communications Platforms. agenda podcast.
Problems with centralized communications
Huddle01 provides a set of built-in Web3 native tools that people can use when planning meetings. For example, users can connect their wallets and use their non-fungible token (NFT) profile pictures as avatars, and sessions can be token-gated. In addition, video recordings can be stored on the Interstellar File System. However, Ranjan said the company’s core focus is on making communication and coordination easier and more reliable through decentralization.
The main problem with tools like Zoom is that they “are built with a top-down approach,” meaning every call from anywhere in the world is routed through a centralized server. “Let’s say we’re on the phone in India,” Ranjan asserted. “Calls are still routed through a central server in Northern Virginia. That means all audio and video packets are routed all the way from India to the United States and back over the (fiber optic) cable at the speed of light. The distance it travels The longer it is, it causes lag. It causes jitter and buffering, which is why you get these robotic sounds.”
Over the past two years, we have focused heavily on team building to make the moonshot a reality.
Bringing you world-class messaging applications and infrastructure.
we are @huddle01com. pic.twitter.com/1LKkE2IDC4
— Ayush Ranjan FILBangalore’23 (@ranjan3118) August 21, 2022
Ranjan shared that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, when schooling became remote, his cousin could barely attend Zoom-based classes due to the extreme delays he experienced:
“It made me realize what a serious problem this is. Just like if your three years of education are completely wiped out because your infrastructure isn’t ready, we need to change that.”
This inspired him to co-found Huddle01, which he says can achieve significantly better performance by routing traffic through a distributed set of servers rather than a centralized location.
Which came first: decentralization or a good product?
Today, Huddle01 relies on Amazon Web Services, but the ultimate goal is to transition to a fully decentralized protocol where individuals can run their own nodes (and get paid for it) through which call traffic is routed.
Ranjan described the process as progressive devolution. “We follow the approach of solving the demand first and then the supply side,” the co-founder said. “We’re not going to fully decentralize the entire technology on day one and launch the network on day one, but we’re going to make sure that we do that step by step.”
He said agenda Since Huddle01 focuses on user experience first, it has already reached 2 million minutes of talk time, which means that in theory, demand will be guaranteed once the protocol actually goes live.
“If you decentralize it from day one, does that lead to users not using it because it’s difficult to use?”
Read more of Ranjan’s conversations agenda — including how Huddle01 is partnering with Lens Protocol to support creators, how it handles user privacy, and future plans for interstellar communications — listen to the full episode on Cointelegraph’s podcast page, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And don’t forget to check out Cointelegraph’s full lineup of other shows!
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This article is for general information purposes only and is not intended to be, and should not be construed as, legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
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