In this episode of the DePINed Podcast, host Tom Trowbridge welcomes Mateusz Poreda, co-founder of Rumi — a DePIN project redefining the future of interactive media. If you’ve ever wanted to talk to your TV, shop directly from a show, or ask what soundtrack is playing — Rumi is building the infrastructure to make that happen.
Making Streaming Interactive: The Rumi Vision
Rumi is building the companion layer for the next evolution of entertainment — one where streaming becomes interactive, personalized, and intelligent. The idea is simple but powerful: what if your favorite content knew what you wanted to do with it?
With Rumi, viewers can:
- Ask questions about characters, plotlines, locations, or wardrobe
- Navigate directly to scenes or moments
- Receive contextual ads (“Where can I buy that jacket?”)
- Launch alternate endings or even contribute their own content
Mateusz calls this shift the move from passive viewers to active players.
How It Works: DePIN, Data & Decentralization
At the heart of Rumi is a decentralized network of contributors — users who run Rumi’s browser extension or software. These contributors help:
- Track impressions and media consumption behavior
- Index content in real time (including dialogue, scenes, emotional arcs, and objects)
- Run compressed Video Language Models (VLMs) locally to build knowledge trees about content
All data is hashed and anonymized — Rumi never touches the IP directly. It works like a distributed Shazam for streaming video.
Incentives and Airdrops
Contributors earn points for running Rumi nodes or allowing passive data collection. These points will later convert into tokens via an upcoming airdrop. Users with higher compute capacity (e.g., M-series MacBooks) can run advanced models and receive higher rewards.
Rumi is also preparing Web2-friendly incentives: think Netflix credits, subscription reimbursements, or gift cards for compute contribution.
Use Cases: AI Remotes and Contextual Commerce
Rumi is building the first AI-powered remote control. Just say:
- “Find me something like The Bear, but less violent.”
- “Jump to the hospital scene.”
- “Where did I see that actor before?”
- “Can I buy that bag?”
This natural interaction unlocks a gateway layer for all media — a second screen where real-time questions, shoppable content, fan comments, educational overlays, and more can live.
Rumi is looking at sports, games, live TV, kids content, podcasts, and more. Imagine watching a football match and being prompted: “Want to bet on a touchdown in the next 30 seconds?” — context-aware, real-time media.
Tokenomics & Ecosystem Design
Rumi’s token model rewards:
- Nodes for indexing content and providing compute
- Users for engagement and sharing data (opt-in)
- Agents (e.g., AI avatars or virtual assistants) that use Rumi’s APIs to interact with indexed content
A portion of network value will be allocated to early contributors during the airdrop. Over time, Rumi will also support staking, redemptions, and monetization for third-party developers.
What Success Looks Like
Mateusz shared Rumi’s early KPIs:
- 10,000+ high-performance compute nodes to reliably index global content
- Millions of users engaging with Rumi-enabled experiences across devices
- Hundreds of media titles converted into Rumi-enabled interactive formats
- Expansion from streaming → sports → games → real-time TV
Rumi isn’t competing with studios. It’s providing infrastructure they can’t — a decentralized layer of real-time intelligence and engagement that unlocks monetization and audience insights in a privacy-preserving way.
Why It’s Happening Now
This wasn’t possible 3–5 years ago. Rumi rides the convergence of:
- Cheaper, more powerful edge hardware
- Open-source AI models for video & emotion parsing
- Growing consumer expectation for immersion and interactivity
- Crypto rails for rewards, incentives, and governance
Rumi is not training generative video models — it’s training infrastructure. And with its October 2025 V1 launch on the horizon, the product that turns your media into a playground is almost here.
About DePINed Podcast
DePINed is a podcast exploring the frontier of decentralized physical infrastructure, hosted by Tom Trowbridge, co-founder of Fluence. Each episode features in-depth conversations with founders, builders, and investors who are shaping the future of real-world Web3 networks.
️ Want to be a guest? Fill out the form here
Catch 50+ episodes featuring top DePIN founders and trailblazing protocols on:
