Building the Posemesh: Exploring Dr. Steinberger's Pioneering Work in Positioning Consensus Technology

December 1, 2023

Welcome to the fascinating world of Dr. John Steinberger, the mastermind behind the cutting-edge algorithms that propel Auki Labs to the forefront of technological innovation.

An internationally recognized expert in cryptography and mathematics, Dr. Steinberger's illustrious academic journey at Tsinghua University has poised him at the pinnacle of his field.

His current endeavor? Pioneering the revolutionary positioning consensus technology that promises to be the bedrock of tomorrow's navigation and tracking systems.

However, Dr. Steinberger's contributions extend beyond theoretical work. He authored and programmed automated digital tools for learning calculus.

Join us as we delve into the mind and the milestones of Auki Labs' Chief Scientist—a visionary reshaping the very fabric of our digital landscape.

‍

Could you share highlights of your career that led you to become the Chief Scientist at Auki Labs?

Getting a Ph.D. at UC Davis was a good start. I got a professorship later but felt claustrophobic and decided to make a dash for it in the private sector.

‍

How has your work in cryptography and computational mathematics influenced the development of the posemesh?

In crypto you get a good sense of the importance of the basic security primitives, obviously, such as hashing and digital signatures. Most useful things are built from just those two, plus encryption.

‍

What inspired you to be part of the Auki Labs project, and what vision do you have for its future?

Nils recruited with his boundless charm. :) We had lived in the same compound in Beijing at some point. He originally wanted me to help with tokenomics, but my role grew to encompass more vanilla software engineering, with other team members taking over the token part.

How does your work align with the core mission of Auki Labs?

I am responsible for the posemesh SDK, meaning many API designs. I have also been responsible for drafting the pose estimation, loop closure, and landmark calibration algorithms.

‍

Can you explain, in layman's terms, how the posemesh works and what makes it an advancement in the field of positioning consensus?

The posemesh is an open-source protocol for determining your position from scanned nearby landmarks. It is unique in that it allows decentralized, self-hosted geometry. You can position yourself inside your local supermarket or mall (anywhere, really) based on scanned geometry that can be locally hosted at that supermarket or mall.

What are the most significant technical challenges you've faced while working at Auki Labs and developing the posemesh, and how have you overcome them?

I ended up doing a lot of SDK design and development. Basically, software engineering. It sounds banal, but you have to be constantly cleaning up after yourself if you don’t want the complexity of the system to take the upper hand on you. This was a challenge. Our proprietary loop closure algorithm was also a challenge. We solved it by successive simplification. Our original draft was much more complicated than what ultimately proved to work well.

‍

How does the posemesh leverage blockchain and cryptography to ensure security and reliability?

The token is used as a currency for people running Hagall, the decentralized networking engine. Standard cryptographic authentication methods are used to protect the privacy of domain data. There is no point in reinventing the wheel in the world of cryptography, and - in fact - much to lose by doing so.

‍

About Auki Labs

Auki Labs is at the forefront of spatial computing, pioneering the convergence of the digital and physical to give people and their devices a shared understanding of space for seamless collaboration.

With a focus on user-centric design and privacy, Auki Labs empowers industries and individuals to embrace the transformative potential of spatial computing, enhancing productivity, engagement, and human connection.

Auki Labs is building the posemesh, a decentralized spatial computing protocol for AR, the metaverse, and smart cities.

‍

About The Posemesh Foundation

The posemesh is an open-source protocol that powers a decentralized, blockchain-based spatial computing network.

The posemesh is designed for a future where spatial computing is both collaborative and privacy-preserving. It limits the surveillance capabilities of any organization and encourages sovereign ownership of private space maps.

The decentralization also offers a competitive advantage, especially in shared AR sessions where low latency is crucial. The posemesh is the next step in the decentralization movement, responding to the growing power of big tech.

The Posemesh Foundation has tasked Auki Labs with developing the software infrastructure of the posemesh.

‍

—