Today, we’ll discuss a project that combines two of the technologies of the future – the blockchain and autonomous vehicles. The project is called DAV – Decentralized Autonomous Vehicles. The company is building a software platform that includes the element of payment in the autonomous vehicles world. This is important because previously, there wasn’t a way for machines to conduct commerce.
However, as we discussed the ideas of decentralized and autonomous corporations a few years ago on this blog, with the invention of Bitcoin, for the first time ever, machines can own digital assets that are valuable to humans, and therefore create an entirely new economic network. The reality is catching up to the ideas and we should soon see applications of crypto in the autonomous vehicles niche.
The ideas being worked on by the DAV team don’t involve the concept of self-ownership of a network, i.e. the autonomous part, as in autonomy of ownership. However, it is specifically targeted towards the autonomous vehicles space, as in autonomy of operation without human involvement in operations. This seems like the right time, as we are seeing autonomous cars in real cities now.
Creating an Entire Machine Economy of Driverless Cars
The idea behind DAV is to create an entire machine economy, but not in the ‘virtual’ world. This is autonomous vehicles that ply our roads. How does that economy look like? Today, it is the largest corporations – Alphabet (Google/Waymo) for example building its autonomous vehicles. It will work the city like a regular taxi service, and take payments. The profits go to Alphabet, the mothership.
However, how will this allow the everyday people to participate in the economy? As of now, this won’t, unless in the indirect way of making transportation cheaper and more convenient. With DAV, you can participate in this autonomous vehicles economy yourself, by providing services to the network. Not you per se, but your driverless car, for example.
The DAV Token, therefore, would be the currency of this economy. If you let your driverless car go out and give rides to people, you earn some DAV Token via your autonomous car.
DAV Tokens for All Economic Transactions on the Network
However, it is not just about you earning some DAV tokens if you let your autonomous car out. The whole ecosystem around driverless cars will be carried out in DAV Tokens. For example, the network will need service providers. The job of the service providers is to maintain the autonomous cars on the DAV network. This includes all the maintenance and upkeep required to keep the fleet of driverless cars fully operational and in the best health – from charging to cleaning to fixing any major operational issues or upkeep.
Therefore, if you want to earn some DAV Tokens to participate in the network, you can do so easily even if you’re not rich enough to buy an autonomous car – by simply becoming a service provider for the network.
As a platform, DAV is a fully open source software and hardware solution and architecture for the autonomous car segment of our economy. This will appeal to the hackers and tinkerers in the niche. The token gains value based on the software and platform that the team is building and providing, but should be an economy in and of itself.
DAV is one of the few blockchain/crypto projects that goes beyond the virtual world into the real world. There will be challenges in this transition – no doubt about that. However, if the team succeeds, the project can make a difference to our cities, our mobility, and how we operate in the real world.
If you’re interested to learn more, read their whitepaper.