BigchainDB and Toyota announce decentralized exchange for sharing autonomous vehicle data

BigchainDB today announced that a live prototype for sharing of autonomous vehicle data has been built in collaboration with the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) and the MIT Media Lab. The Autonomous Vehicle Data Exchange — AVDEX — allows researchers to buy datasets from data producers, for improving the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms for autonomous vehicles.

Autonomous vehicles offer the promise to radically reduce the over one million annual road deaths around the world, because they never text while driving, get distracted or get tired — like humans do. Before autonomous vehicles can be fully safe for all road conditions, the Rand Corp and McKinseyhas estimated that one trillion road miles worth of data needs to be collected.

While no single entity will be able to reach one trillion miles in the near future individually, by sharing data within the mobility ecosystem to help improve the AI and ML learning algorithms faster, we can also make autonomous cars faster and safer, ultimately saving lives.

Chris Ballinger, Director of Mobility Services and Chief Financial Officer at TRI said:

“Hundreds of billions of miles of human driving data may be needed to develop safe and reliable autonomous vehicles. Blockchains and distributed ledgers may enable pooling data from vehicle owners, fleet managers, and manufacturers to shorten the time for reaching this goal, thereby bringing forward the safety, efficiency and convenience benefits of autonomous driving technology.”

Bruce Pon, CEO of BigchainDB commented:

“The sharing of datasets for autonomous cars is just one of many use cases. A secure data exchange built on blockchain technology is a fundamental service to help propel the research and advancement in artificial intelligence and machine learning in all fields — government services, healthcare, supply chain, manufacturing, energy and media. Data is the lifeblood of AI. A decentralized data exchange allows researchers to crack open the data silos to advance research.”

The AVDEX prototype combines the high security cryptography and blockchain technology with real-world reputation to allow researchers to confidently buy datasets. The prototype is built on a radical new web architecture that has only a web application running Java Script that points to a persistent decentralized database — IPDB, a global public database. This architecture allows any developer to build blockchain applications quickly without needing a deep understanding the underlying blockchain technologies, a significant barrier to broader blockchain adoption until now.