Harmonie NFT Galerie: Physical Gallery & Digital Signage Solutions in Shopping Malls for Cardano NFTs: artists, advertisements, and more

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Nathalie Yéghen-Yürüten

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

nathalie.yeghen@gmail.com

Additional applicants

Onur Yürüten

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

12

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.” .

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

Project will be fully open source.

[METADATA] Category of proposal

RealFi

[METADATA] SDG rating

SDG goals:

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Reduce inequality within and among countries

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

SDG subgoals:

Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

Key Performance Indicator (KPI):

Proportion of informal employment in total employment, by sector and sex

Universal Human Rights Index (UHRI):

#proposertoolsdg

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Digital artists use intermediaries to get recognition and sell their artwork: first step is to list their work on a digital NFT marketplace, and Cardano has many well-functioning platforms for this. However, here, the audience is limited to blockchain-savvy population. Next, they will need to advertise their work, and they make deals with social media sites, influencers, and so forth. However, this step again limits the audience to blockchain-savvy population due to recommendation algorithms.

The artists need a way to have more channels for advertisement in order to reach to general population and have a sustainable business with their artwork. This is where our solution fits.

Harmonie NFT Galerie will create a physical channel for marketing and sales of digital artwork NFTs: digital signage screens that receive artwork from internet, and display them in crowded public spaces such as shopping malls.

We offer a system that delivers a physical channel to the artists' marketing capabilities. It involves a fleet of mobile and static screens, which are deployed to shopping malls. Imagine showcasing your artwork on screens which hundreds of thousands of real people will pass by per day. This is what you will get with our solutions.

The screens will be remotely and dynamically programmed to display artworks. The artists will make their payments via their Cardano wallets, and we'll handle the rest:

• We develop business partnerships with shopping malls so that you can solely focus on perfecting your artwork.
• Harmonie NFT Galerie adds a QR code to the images to be displayed, such that the bypassers can scan & navigate to the marketplace of the artist's choice.
• Furthermore, the same QR codes will be used to track the active interest for your artwork - not just some bland likes, re-posts, etc. but REAL engagement. Marketing AND Market Intelligence in once pack - how cool is that ?!?

We increase the visibility of Cardano NFTs artwork and artists to general population, thanks to shopping malls presence with digital signage solutions.

On a larger goal, we are opening access to art and culture by supporting NFT artists, offering them new ways to exhibit their art with digital signage solutions in public areas like shopping centers. 

Art gives a voice to the voiceless. 

Art and culture bring awarness to society issues. 

Art allows people to feel emotions, feel experiences no matter their opinions. 

This change of perspectives is a catalyst for change. 

Art brings people together. 

Together, we can make change happen. 

Thank you for your support, thank you for making the project move fowards.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

Addressing the Challenge:

Our solution directly addresses the challenge of the lack of visibility and lack of exposure of Cardano NFTs to general population. The lack of opportunities to physically exhibit and advertise Cardano NFTs in shopping malls. By bridging well-known digital signage solutions and the Cardano Blockchain, we believe that we will meet this challenge to great satisfaction. We will pilot our deployments in Switzerland, a country known with its friendliness to blockchains, appreciation of fine arts, and high purchasing power.

Benefits to the Cardano Ecosystem:

• Bringing the Cardano ecosystem to general public
• Increasing Cardano's recognition to general public, outside communities known to be blockchain-savvy. In our first year, with our current authorisation we can have a reach of 100,000 people per week
• Increasing the visibility of Cardano artists
• Making Cardano-NFTs a reference for artists to publish their work on blockchains
• Growing the community of Cardano artists.
• By accepting payment only in ADA, we will help increase the trading volume of ADA.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

We will measure the success of our project in following metrics:

1. Number of artists and NFTs exhibited per week
2. Number of artists onboarding to our support group in Discord for:
3. Onboarding to Cardano
4. Learning how to mint NFTs in Cardano
5. The engagement of shopping mall visitors
6. Direct: By measuring the number of "clickthroughs" via the QR codes on the displayed artworks
7. Indirect: By obtaining reports from the shopping mall managers on number of shopping mall visitors passing in front of our display screens. Since we aim to install the display screens right at the entrance of the malls, this number will converge to the total number of shopping mall visitors.
8. Growth of our display solution to different locations

Note that all of these metrics are continuous, in other words, they will be continuously monitored even beyond the completion of our project.

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

We will share our results on the following channels:

1. A dedicated website set up for this project
2. A Discord channel, where we will be doing regular updates to our project

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

This is our very first application to Catalyt funding. We are dedicated to helping Cardano's growth and adoption in any capacity we can.

• We have already authorisations for setting up our display equipment to 6 shopping malls in Canton of Vaud in Switzerland, owned by one of the largest retailers in Switzerland.
• We are running the staking pool PLUS.
• Our team, a dedicated family of three in love with Cardano ecosystem.
• We have in-house knowledge of frontend/backend development, as well as a good knowledge of marketing.

Our Values:

• It is important to us to keep and maintain an open communication.
• Giving a voice to everybody.
• Being patient to listen and understand people points of views.
• Having empathy for people's emotions.
• Being tolerant of different choices and people expectations.
• Being respectful of decisions
• Appreciating diversity, evolution, connection
• Allowing personal expression for creativity and self acceptance and self-love.
• Developping emotional intelligence for harmonious exchange and united communities.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

GOALS:

1. Enable a physical channel of marketing to Cardano artists
2. Help Cardano artists increase their sales and recognition for their artwork
3. Onboard new artists to Cardano blockchain
4. Foster collaborations between artists and shopping malls

FEASIBILITY

1. Assess shopping mall's business appetite for digital signage solutions. We have already established direct relations with 11 shopping malls, and received positive feedback from 6 of them.
2. Assess artists' willingness to advertise on signage solutions: we've conducted a survey on our pool's Twitter account, and received strong positive feedback.
3. Assess the difficulty of digital signage: we've surveyed DIY and pre-packaged digital signage solutions, and decided to purchase a package that also delivers out-of-the-box digital signage management server and software services.
4. Assess the development difficulty: there are three main software development challenges, for all of which we have already identified the appropriate SDKs:
5. Intergation of Cardano-based interactions in a website
6. Integration between artists' website with the digital signage controller
7. Generation of QR Codes for analytics purposes.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Milestone 1: Hardware setup (Month 1)

• Purchase, install, and configure base digital signage pack.
• Set up the digital signage controller server

Milestone 2: Website (Month 4)

• Deliver a website where artists can:
• Connect with their Cardano wallets
• Specify which artworks they'd like to be displayed
• Specify which timeslots they'd like the display to happen
• Pay with ADA for the services
• Connect the website with the digital signage controller server

Milestone 3: Analytics (Month 6)

• Put in place the mechanics to automatically measure the visibility of artworks.

Milestone 4: Scaling up (Month 12)

• Add more partnerships with shopping malls
• Set up more signage screens
• Adapt the UX based on artists' feedback

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1: Hardware and software setup

• Deliverables: Purchase, installation and setup of 6 monitors and digital signage licences.
• Outputs: 6 Screens installed, display scheduler set up in 6 shopping malls.
• Intended Outcomes: Harmonie Galerie team will be able to remotely add/remove/schedule images on display.

Milestone 2: Website delivery

• Deliverables: A website where artists can connect their Cardano wallets, specify the NFT artworks that they'd like to promote, and schedule the advertisements.
• Outputs: Website, Discord group
• Intended Outcomes: Artists being able to interact with our website to schedule & pay for artwork display in our screens. Image adding/removing/scheduling completely automated.

Milestone 3: Analytics

• Deliverables: In the image upload phase in the website, generating a QR code for tracking purposes.
• Outputs: Live statistics in website, Monthly reports
• Intended Outcomes: Increased visibility on the daily interactions with advertised artworks, Cardano artists empowered with market intelligence data.

Milestone 4: Scaling up

• Deliverables: Additional partnerships and display screen purchases.
• Outputs: Increased number of screens, adjusted website user experience to let artists choose where they'd like to display their ads.
• Intended Outcomes: Artists enjoying a larger diversity of locations to advertise their artwork.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Hardware Costs: 48,000 ₳, including:

• Purchasing the digital signage monitors (6), supports and items
• Installation costs

Software Costs: 17,000 ₳, including:

• Licences digital signage software
• Licence Server software
• Website development, Cardano JS SDK integration
• Analytics database development

Business Development Costs: 10,000 ₳, including:

• Rent of the physical space
• Insurances
• Internet subscription for screens
• Electricity consumption
• Transportation cost
• Marketing and advertisement to Cardano artists
• Partnerships and joint promotion activities with existing businesses in Cardano

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The costs described should be seen as an investment rather than an expense. With our project's success we aim to attract attention for our blockchain and growing Cardano's reputation.

We believe we have a great chance of success as:

• The main exposure will be to general public, thanks to shopping malls
• The initial deployments will be in Switzerland, a very crypto-friendly country,

Our success can yield significant returns. These returns may include:

• Increased adoption and heightened interest in Cardano ecosystem.
• Increased volumes and valuations in Cardano NFTs projects.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept