Our communication belongs to conglomerates designed to harvest data and capitalize on our privacy. For the past decade, we've been the customer and the product, we've made the biggest even bigger and more powerful. We've allowed for-profit organizations to shape our society through products designed to capture as much attention and data from us as possible. Communication became a common good, but yet we still recognize it as a product with a market cap. The regimes of digital dictatorships are ever-growing, but they also inspired a wave of new technologies like Blockstack, Dat, IPFS, Ethereum, and many others. Now it's just a matter of passion and human collaboration to bring these unique and empowering technologies to our society. Embrace Clarity is a non-profit open-source project that wants to make communication a common good, and you can be part of it.
Clarity's mission is to establish a healthy environment for these new technologies by creating an unstoppable device that anyone can build and distribute and participate in the evolution of it.
Clarity will come with a modular docking station that people can use as storage for their encrypted data, or they can use a cloud provider instead. The station will act as a node on a mesh network, building a decentralized system in the background in case an ISP decides to censor the web. Users who choose to participate in the net will be rewarded with tokes based on the traffic they have handled.
Clarity will use Blockstack's storage, identity, and smart contracts. The significant difference would be that private keys won't be sent to an email; instead, they would be stored securely on the device. Users will be able to sign transactions and auth in dapps through the fingerprint scanner as you would normally do on most mobile devices today.
The system will be focused on simplifying the experience for humans by eliminating the need for standalone apps. Instead, Atmosphere will use Layers where developers can build Modules on top through a simple UI API. The API will allow creators to execute their ideas without worrying about UI. At the same time, the users will get a consistent experience throughout the OS.
Example: A user can go to the Maps Layer, search for a restaurant, and decide how they want to interact with that location. They will be able to order food, get directions, book a ticket or a room, all that without having to leave the Map Layer. Same goes for let's say the Audio Layer. Users can select their provider of the content. This could be audiobooks, music, podcasts, etc. Different content might require different Modules, but the overall experience will be consistent from UX and UI standpoint.
In our current reality, creators often need to raise money to execute their vision. By doing that they instantly disconnect from the actual shareholders - the people using their creations. The users become a source of profit for the shareholders, which, in return, forces creators to design addictive and privacy abusive products/apps. On the other hand, you have the distributors like App Store and Google Play, which have strict guidelines on what goes in. So far dapps got lucky, but it's just a matter of time before they start to regulate the web3 as they won't be able to get their 30% cut from in-app payments.
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The module store breaks this abusive chain by putting the user in the center. People would be incentivized to participate in the creation and the evolution of each module. Creators would able to hold crowdsale campaigns and distribute their modules through the store as well as starting bounties and getting feedback. People who hold the token of a module will be able to submit feedback, ideas, and bug reports or help other members when they face an issue or have a question(aka support). Each interaction will add up to the overall reputation of the member, and they will be rewarded with tokens. On the other hand, creators can also earn status based on the performance of their modules (usage, contribution to society, etc.).
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Example: I have an idea for a module; let's say it will be a ride-hailing service that will be developed under the Transportation Layer of the OS. I can write my white paper, submit my mockups, etc. and start crowdfunding. My future "users" would be able to own a piece of my module by purchasing tokens. When the module is live, those same token holders who invested in my module will be able to submit feedback and will be rewarded with more tokens by doing so. The community and I will be able to create bounties for features, bugs, etc. By doing this, we can build a reputation in the Module Store. So next them, we want to do a crowdfunding campaign we would be already vetted because of our previous success. Or if my last module failed, people can see when, how, and why it failed and make a decision if they want to invest in my new project.
We'll be using IPFS for deployment so we can avoid centralized control over a module.
Creators would have to stake a portion of their tokens for some time when they deploy a module. This way, we can prevent illegal and bad actors in the system. The community can downvote a bad creator; this will lead to them losing their staked tokens and delisting/preventing this module from being used.
Alternatively, members with high reputation can earn the rights to edit the store when there is an uprising from the whole community against a module. Similarly, they would be able to suggest a module to be featured on the home page.
Mobile phones transformed into portable entertainment machines with ever-growing screens because developers and for-profit organizations design those addictive and time-sucking apps(Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, etc. ). The incentive to deliver profit to shareholders is rippling throughout the ecosystem, and one affects the other. Recent "Digital Wellbeing" efforts were supposed to fix the well-designed traps, however, reminding people not to use their phone is the same as reminding an addict not to smoke or drink. The problem requires us to rethink and reimagine the future of communication by addressing the problem at its core. The token economy allows us to put the user in the center and make them a majority shareholder. Sadly we might have to wait another 10-20 years for the conglomerates to evolve to a point when they see the benefits of the new technologies and ideologies.
Clarity is aiming at solving this problem by creating a humanistic communication device, purely focused on ethically connecting our society by embracing the decentralized web. The device will feature a small 3.4" screen and soft tactile body, designed for the human palm, not for entertainment. The modular plugins will create a more sustainable future, it will allow developers to engineer specific hardware modules like cameras, speakers, keyboards, or extra screens. They are allowing people to change a module instead of buying a whole new device. Clarity also eliminates one of the biggest barriers with the web3, which is the hustle with storing private keys. People would be able to use their fingerprint, pin, or face to interact with dapps and sign transactions.
Tech specs
- Dimensions - [wip]
- Weight - 100-200g
- Body - Polycarbonate casing with a matte finish, high-durability coating; front glass-fiber reinforced (10%); high-dispersion top speaker housing; Matte rear; Soft-touch rubber home button bottom; Splash-proof to IP52
- Display - Size: 3.4″; Aspect ratio: 4:3 Resolution: 960 x 720 (?); Protection: Gorilla Glass 3 (fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating)
- Audio - Front speaker; Top (hands-free) speaker (1.5 W max output); Front microphone; Rear (noise-canceling) microphone; Audio power amplifier class K; Vibrating alert motor
- Processor - Qualcomm® Snapdragon ™?
- RAM - 4 GB LPDDR3, 533 MHz
- Storage - 132 GB eMMC 4.5; SD Slot
- Network - LTE category 4; Version 1 (Europe, Australia, Japan)2G: 2, 3, 5, 83G: WB-CDMA 1, 5(6/19), 84G: FDD-LTE 1, 3, 5(6/19), 7, 8, 20,Version 2 (USA/CANADA)2G: 2, 3, 5, 83G: WCDMA 1, 2, 4, 5, 84G: FDD-LTE 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 17
- Carrier-related information - Single nano-SIM (4FF)
- Security - Fingerprint scanner(on the power/lock button); Encryption Chip for cold storage.
- Connectivity - Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n, 2.4 GHz Bluetooth v4.1, A2DPUSB 2.0 with USB-C connector
- Sensors - GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS; Gravity + gyros; Compass
- Battery - Type: 1,280 mAh lithium-ion
- OS - Atmosphere OS
Hardware engineers will be able to build on top of the platform and sell and distribute through the ambassador's network. Each hardware module will attach seamlessly to the bottom of the device via a magnetic connector.
Possible modules:
- Physical keyboard
- Speaker
- Camera
- 2nd screen
A modular docking station can be used for charging, storage, and mesh-networking.
People will be able to plugin an SSD or HDD via the USB port or attach a custom build module. For storage, we'll use GAIA in case the person doesn't want to use a cloud provider like AWS. If there is a free space, the member would be able to offer it to the network so others can use it. Members would be rewarded when sharing their resources with others either by tokes and reputation or by both.
To ensure full censorship resistance, we would have to build a mesh-network that would serve the members of the community in case an ISP decides to block a domain or a person. Clarity devices will automatically connect to the network if such is available. Members who choose to participate in the web would be rewarded with tokens based on how much resources they've contributed. The ultimate goal of the mesh is to independent from the leading internet.
Developers would be able to build on top of the station to add different hardware modules like smart tv, home automation, etc. They would be able to exchange data, for instance, the assistant will be able to talk to the tv module, security module, or the thermostat. The
For-profit companies have been abusing people in markets where labor is cheap. Suppliers (negative). Blockchain will be able to track contributions and reward each participant fairly when a device is sold. On the other hand, people will be able to see who built their device, what reputation the participant has, and how much they were paid when the person bought Clarity.
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- Purchase prebuilt clarity devices
- Reward members when they share their storage with the rest of the community
- Reward members when they create a node on the mesh network
- Reward members when they contribute to the development of the project (software, manufacturing, hardware, design, marketing, ideas, etc.)
- Distribute value to the creators when a device is sold
Open hardware will enable everyone to participate in the creation of the device. From handcrafted to 3D printed and machine manufactured devices. Unified guidelines will make sure that devices are safe and compatible with the rest of the ecosystem. The reputation of each participant will be tracked via the blockchain to ensure the user's safety.
Repairs of the device will be done through members of the community. Each engineer will have a reputation score that will be recorded on the blockchain. This will prevent bad behavior in the community.
- Reward engineers
- Create a network of trusted service providers
- Transparent costs (labor, parts, etc.)
Each member would be able to become a distributor of Clarity and be fairly rewarded at the point of sale.