Future Concepts

Future Directions: The following describes potential enhancements to the Osvauld ecosystem. These represent capabilities the architecture can support.

Commerce

Commerce refers to documents for public applications that exist between user node and viewer - orders, direct chats, transactions, and similar interactions.

When a viewer orders, it creates a document. The owner can then modify that order document - confirm status, update information, or perform other actions with that data for that specific user.

This is not yet handled in the protocol. Future support will enable:

Order documents - Viewer creates order, owner confirms and updates status
Transaction documents - Track commerce interactions with per-user modifications
Direct chat documents - Facilitate buyer-seller communication
Custom business logic - Define rules using CEL expressions

Commerce happens peer-to-peer, with blockchain providing discovery, verification, and audit capabilities.

Discovery

Currently, sharing content requires out-of-band device key exchange. Blockchain enables human-readable names and public discovery.

What this enables:

Human-readable sharing: Type @alice instead of pasting connection strings
Public discovery: Indexers crawl blockchain records, provide search results
Service listings: Find e-commerce sites, service providers, content publishers
Multi-device updates: Change nodes, update blockchain once—everyone resolves new location

Blockchain provides the discovery layer. Once discovered, all interactions happen peer-to-peer.

IPFS Integration

IPFS integration enables offloading static content to reduce strain on sovereign nodes. The data layer and static layer are architecturally separate.

What uses IPFS:

Static website content (HTML, CSS, images)
Content encrypted before pinning—safe to use public IPFS infrastructure
Others can pin your content, but they only store encrypted blobs

What stays P2P:

Data layer: CRDT operations, real-time sync
Comments, forms, conversations
All interactive features

Why this helps:

Reduces load on your sovereign node
Bandwidth savings for large website assets
Distributed availability while maintaining privacy

IPFS is for static content distribution. All interactive features remain pure peer-to-peer.

AI Integration

The architecture supports running AI models on your personal node for enhanced functionality.

Node-hosted AI:

Hardware: Personal node with NPU for AI inference
Local processing: Image processing, video transcoding, voice commands
Privacy: AI processing happens on your own infrastructure
Multimodal: Process text, images, audio, and structured data locally

Current AI Usage:

Template generation: Users can use cloud AI (ChatGPT, Claude) with HUML guide to generate templates
External, not required: AI is a tool for creating templates, not part of core functionality

Future AI Features:

Document editing: Local AI assistance for drafting content
Image processing: On-device image optimization and manipulation
Video transcoding: Efficient video processing on personal node NPU
Voice commands: Local speech recognition and processing

Efficient design:

CRDT surgical updates: Send only changed parts of documents, not entire context
AI has identity: AI assistants get DIDs—delegate Permits for permissions
Fine-grained control: Grant AI access to specific documents only

Node-to-Node Syncing

Sovereign nodes can act as intermediaries, retrieving content on behalf of users. Instead of viewers connecting directly to publishers, their nodes connect and sync content for them.

How it works:

Your sovereign node connects to publisher’s node on your behalf
Node retrieves content and syncs it locally
You access content from your own node later
No need for direct connections from your desktop

What this enables:

Asynchronous access: Retrieve content when publisher’s node is online, access it anytime from your node
File syncing: Your node downloads files in the background, you access them locally
Offline reading: Content synced to your node remains available when publisher goes offline
Bandwidth efficiency: Your node handles the connection, multiple devices access from your local node
Local speed: Access content at local network speeds—up to 3 Gbps, not limited by internet bandwidth

Use cases:

File sharing: Large files sync to your node, access from any device
Content subscription: Your node periodically syncs updates from publishers you follow
Group collaboration: Nodes sync documents, ensuring availability when peers go offline

Proactive downloads:

Visitors with their own nodes get automatic background downloads
No need to have the app switched on—your node handles syncing while you’re away
Large files sync easily in the background without keeping the app open
Content ready when you open the app

Architecture benefits:

Cheap storage: Sovereign nodes provide affordable local storage for synced content
High interactivity: Offline-first design means instant access without waiting for network requests
High availability: Node-to-node communication makes the system highly available—content remains accessible even when individual publishers go offline
Super fast access: Accessing content from your node is extremely fast because it’s local network access—high throughput with newer hardware
Always available: Content on your node works regardless of publisher connectivity

Node-to-node syncing separates content retrieval from content access—your node does the work of staying connected while you access content on your own schedule.

Verifiability with Digital Signatures

Content can be cryptographically signed, with blockchain records providing verifiable origin. Nobody can impersonate you.

How it works:

Publishers sign content with their identity keys
Blockchain records the original publisher with their signature
Content stays offline (P2P), but origin is verifiable through blockchain
Signatures prevent impersonation—you can’t fake being the original publisher

What this enables:

Verifiable origin: Cryptographic proof of who originally published content
Tamper detection: Any modification breaks the signature, proving content was altered
Impersonation prevention: Signatures prove authenticity—nobody can fake your identity
Attribution: Clear proof of original creator, even when content is shared

Use cases:

News and journalism: Verify article origins through blockchain records
Research and citations: Cryptographic proof of original authorship
Content sharing: Share with verifiable attribution to original creator
Misinformation prevention: Detect when content has been altered or falsely attributed

Blockchain provides the verification layer while content stays P2P—you can always verify origin without compromising the offline-first architecture.

Conclusion

These capabilities—commerce, discovery, IPFS, AI, node-to-node syncing, and verifiable digital signatures—extend the Extended Web infrastructure.

The architecture is designed to support these enhancements while maintaining the fundamental principles:

Sovereignty: Control over identity, data, and relationships
Privacy: No surveillance, no data harvesting
Peer-to-peer: Direct collaboration without intermediaries
Data-driven: Behavior configured through templates and Permits

Blockchain integration is essential (not optional) for making the Extended Web globally discoverable, verifiable, and auditable while preserving privacy. Your identity and ownership records live on-chain; your actual content stays local and encrypted.

The future is being built now. The Extended Web is here.