Self-Service NFT Ticketing, Gamification and Event Analytics

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Sarah Faulkner

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Individual

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

5

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

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

A self-service web app whereby event companies can replace paper tickets with an NFT-based ticketing system that works alone or with existing check-in software, designed for mainstream users.

[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.”

NFT-GATR, our own app for self-service NFT utility (this proposal is a feature extension). Please see the Youtube video playlist for a short walkthrough of its core features.

The app is live at: https://gatr.netlify.app

A frontend use-case is also live, at: https://janus-j2.netlify.app/OPS.html?callback=https%3A%2F%2Fjanus-j2.netlify.app%2Fplay

Link 3 in this proposal is a Youtube playlist with a few interface walkthroughs.

At the time of this writing it is live and working, but labeled as "in beta" as I am making a large feature update.

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

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

This proposal is scoped for an open-source Cardano-based NFT event management API server code. In addition to making the repository available to the public to create their own versions, the existing token-gating app will utilize a live version of this server to provide a self-service interface for consumers to create and manage NFT events without technical knowledge.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

This proposal is based on an existing product, NFT Gater, a self-service token-gating platform funded in F8. The work scope in this proposal is known internally as Update V2G, Mobile In-Person NFT Verification.

The solution involves a token-gating resource server to provide wallet-based access to gate payloads, in this case tickets, and a Events concept to group token gates, which represent tickets, into a single event object with an initial set of configuration options that can accommodate most event management scenarios. Such as, whether or not to allow ticket “passbacks” - in other terms, the same asset used by multiple wallets at the same event.

Primarily, the work involves a mobile passcode login alternative to the existing wallet-based login scheme. It also requires a new interface for gate creators to scan wallet addresses to produce the gate payload on the creator’s device, as opposed to on a third-party website on the NFT holder’s device as it currently runs.

The wallet scanning interface would replace the existing token-gating OAuth flow with a QR code camera library that scans receive addresses from consumer phones, using the Receive menu of the mobile wallet of choice. With an event ID and a wallet obtained, the interface not only confirms attendance but checks against passbacks by associating the first wallet used for that NFT into a token usage log for the event. 

The app would work as a standalone solution that anyone with a smartphone can use to create and scan for events based on NFT ownership. However, the “gate payload” structure of this solution also makes it ideal for use in combination with existing check-in and ticket systems like Ticketmaster.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

This solution allows creators to monetize live events as NFTs instead of paper tickets, opening up the event hosting business to anyone with or can make an NFT project, eliminating the tech and financial barriers most ticketing systems present, while being even more secure against duplication.

This proposal provides an opportunity for the Cardano ecosystem to support mainstream event management companies in a seamless way, thereby bringing all their consumers into Cardano as NFT ticket holders.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Deliverability:

The team involved in this project has already created Cardano apps in prior funds and are looking to expand on what we have learned along the same theme of token-gating as a service.

Our app is called NFT-GATR, a self-service tool for creating on-page web3 utility without code. This proposal extends the unique Cardano oauth abilities of this app into in-person event ticketing.

We have already set up our UML diagramming, shared drives, and project management through ClickUp. Top-level work-sprints were made to assess the time and cost of this project, and once funded will be broken down into smaller tasks for assignment.

Risk Factors:

We have carefully assessed the risks to completion, from project scope creep to external unforeseen events, and we have a high level of confidence that we can complete all milestones on time. Below are a few of the primary concerns our team will be continuing to monitor.

The price of ADA could decrease significantly and if the market value of ADA is below 0.25 cents at any point in the next 12 months, the project could potentially be at risk of losing value it presumed it would have. However, we feel that 0.25 is a moderately low conservative guess for ADA moving forward this year.

The OAuth flow is a complex security mechanism for providing access to private resources, so the project has allotted a budget for an Oauth 2.0 security contractor and an API architecture consultant to help ensure that the app not only works, but can work safely as expected at a large scale.

Revenue Models:

There are independent plans for adding features to this app that would require a monthly subscription payment in order to use higher levels of gate service and advanced gate features. However, that functionality is outside the scope of this project. 

The revenue model that will be available to the project at the moment of launch is the concept of the login token. This app will sell login tokens through a popular minting service whose policy ID is synonymous with account profiles. As the user base grows, we may be able to self-fund our billing server without the proposal we wrote specifically for it.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Ticket Creation Interface: Create an account-based web app for users to create token-gated event tickets, NFT-protected gate configuration objects that associate NFTs with ticket information. Interfaces include Register, Login, Profile, Wallet, Events, Gates, Verify and Scan. The Verify page is used by consumers to access ticket codes after confirming NFT ownership and selecting a valid token gate. 

• 9 work sprints covering estimated 285 hours
• Starting 12/8/23, target launch 1/18/24
• Projected cost: ₳20,592 ($5,148)

Login UI - Mobile Passcode Entry: Make the login screen mobile responsive and apply an alternative login mechanism, the mobile passcode. A single input as opposed to a username and password. 

My Profile: Mobile Login Opt-In: Create a profile section to allow the generation and re-generation of a 30-character passcode that would bypass the need to connect a browser wallet to log in on mobile. 

My Events UI: A list of event objects created by the user, click each title to drop down an informational pane.

New Collection UI: An input form that upon submission creates a new event object for the user. Collection objects have attributes for Title, Description, ID (generated), and configuration inputs that affect the gate scanning process.

Collection Scan UI: Logged-in users browsing the Events they created can click a Scan button to visit page Scan, with the event ID added as a URL parameter. This interface has three containers - an info box for the Collection, a Scan button, and results of the prior scan.

Bulk Gate Upload UI: Allows logged-in users to upload a CSV file representing token gates to create or edit in bulk, making it easier to create tickets for an event. Also known as the AFK API.

Gate Resource Server: The API server that serves the NFT Verification Modal to verify token ownership, provide available token gates, and produce authentication codes that third-party sites use to securely obtain gate payloads which, in the context of this project, will be ticket QR codes. This milestone includes the hard costs for hosting providers of the servers, app and databases.

• 2 work sprints covering estimated 120 hours
• Starting 1/21/24, target launch 2/7/24
• Projected cost: ₳30,270 ($7,568)

API Route: Get Valid Gates: If a gate belongs to a event, match the trigger domain of the event to the callback URL and consider all new configuration options that the event object brings.

API Route: Make Gate Auth: Refactor the makeGateAuth route with the restrictions introduced by events for time-to-live and consumer-facing restrictions.

Ticket App API: The API server that communicates between the Ticket Creation Interface app and the system's MongoDB data tables.

• 8 work sprints covering estimated 274 hours
• Starting 2/10/24, target launch 3/20/24
• Projected cost: ₳19,797 ($4,949)

API Route: Logins: A duplicate API route of the traditional wallet-based login process is refactored, replacing the wallet-based login section with a step to verify the login passcode among the user table. 

API Route Update: Create Gate: Modify the existing Create Gate route to store the new format of the gate object with new attributes relevant to events.

API Route: Create Collection: New API route to store events for authorized users and sub-vendors.

API Route: Bulk Gate Creation: Receive and process CSV data from the web app when users bulk-upload gates to create or edit.

On-Page Script: A module on the ticketing web app for token gate owners to scan consumer wallets, obtaining the ticket payloads (QR) belonging to gates triggered by tokens owned in the wallet. It includes a QR code camera scanning library that works on mobile and desktop, to scan wallets in a brand-agnostic way and verify ownership of NFTs belonging to token-gates tickets. 

• 2 work sprints covering 40 hours
• Starting 3/23/24, target launch 3/29/24
• Projected cost: ₳2,890 ($723)

Modified Start Auth - QR Camera: The modified OPS (on-page script) will live on the Scan page on the app as opposed to third-party sites. This version will replace the OAuth wallet connection process with a camera QR code scanning library that scans consumer receive addresses from any mobile wallet.

Modified Start Auth - Gate Processing: Introduce new on-page events introduced by event objects such as minimum age notifications.

MongoDB Database Sets: The MongoDB Atlas account that contains NoSQL articles for Users, Wallets, Wallet Keys, Gates, Events, Session Auths, Gate Payload Auths, and QR Codes.

• 3 work sprints covering estimated 155 hours
• Starting 4/1/24, target launch 4/23/24
• Projected cost: ₳11,199 ($2,800)

Database Initialization and Access: Initialize a MongoDB Atlas account for the various API components to share stored information in NoSQL articles pertaining to the web app - Users, Gates, Events, Wallets, Mobile Passcodes and configuration references.

Gate API Database Calls: Ensure that the resource server (token gating OAuth) can read and write to the MongoDB Atlas account using an API key with proper scope.

Web API Database Calls: Ensure that the web app API server can read and write from web app related tables using an API key with proper scope.

Load Testing Period: An in-person solution like this requires extensive load-testing and that must be done in a realistic environment. Therefore, the app must play host to several "beta testing parties", concerts and other get-togethers that steadily grow in size as performance issues are identified.

• 1 work sprint covering estimated 120 hours
• Starting 4/26/24, target launch 5/13/24
• Projected cost: ₳8,670 ($2,168)

Beta Test Parties: The system must be stress-tested in a real in-person environment. Find local communities that are willing to attend NFT-ticket based events with the understanding that the technology is in beta.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Sarah Faulkner

Fullstack developer and project manager

Sarah creates operational business strategies from competitive and internal analyses of e-commerce brands. As a Plutus Pioneer student she devotes his time to learning smart contracts for use in B2B services to grow utility and tooling on Cardano.

Relevant Experience Sarah Faulkner, MS Computer Science Sarah has twelve years of experience writing apps for e-commerce and web analytics applications. A graduate of Plutus Pioneer Program, she is also deeply familiar with blockchain queries and smart contracts.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

For details behind these itemized expenses please review the proposal worksheet, tab name Project Costs.

• Project Team
• Sarah, Full Stack Developer (proposal author)
• ₳71,820 ($17,955) for 994 work hours
• Hardware
• We do not need to purchase any physical equipment.
• Marketing
• This proposal does not take into account paid methods of advertising this app. A portion of post-launch revenue will be diverted to a marketing budget and the app team will continue to engage with the community online and in-person for onboarding.
• Technical Contractors
• Mobile Web App Consultant
• ₳21,600 ($5,400) for 90 work hours
• Service Providers
• Netlify, 12 Months of Pro Tier, Web App, ₳912 ($228)
• Used throughout development and testing.
• Netlify, 12 Months of Enterprise, Oauth App, ₳7,200 ($1,800)
• For app performance post-launch, with 99% uptime, faster machines and a high-performance edge network.
• Render, 12 Months of Team Plan, ₳912 ($228)
• 500GB of bandwidth for hosting web app and oauth app.
• Render, 12 Months Standard Tier Node Service, Web API, ₳1,200 ($300)
• One year of standard hosting for the self-service web app
• Render, 12 Months Standard Tier Node Service, OAuth API, ₳1,200 ($300)
• One year of standard hosting for the ticket resource (OAuth) server used in this project to demonstrate the usage of the 2FA server to be built.
• MongoDB Atlas Dedicated Cluster, GCP Tier M30, 12 Months, ₳18,662 ($4,666)
• Data storage at a service tier fit for development and first-year public use.

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

The cost of this proposal is a one-time price that will produce a self-service Cardano app that can be used by the entire community to create their own events for their CNFT communities, without needing to code, and without paying fees to a centralized entity - a simple, self-service solution for in-person NFT verification for events from small get-togethers to large events that need compatibility with established check-in systems.

All team members have committed to a baseline cost of living for the duration of the project. All hard costs have been plotted out, and the hourly rate for labor amounts to approximately $18 per hour. We do not plan to outsource development work, and this proposal will allow the team to focus on the project around the clock until it is completed.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund 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