Aedou, Learn Languages Together (2)

[IMPACT]

Aedou is a social & collaborative multiplayer game (low poly 3D) to learn languages like you would do while traveling a foreign country in a supported, structured and guided way (customizable). You learn through immersing yourself in your language of choice - hearing, reading and speaking in a contextualized environment with other people. The biggest difference is that all content is adapted to your personal language proficiency. This means that you will always have manageable content to interact with and use in your surroundings, preventing you from being overwhelmed. This differs vastly from most formal education approaches that abstract away most of the context and leave you alone in a fixed system to sink or swim.

The international target audience mainly consists of…

1. gamers
2. everyone that has tried learning a language but stopped few weeks in due to a lack of engagement and motivation
3. people looking for practice partners and tandems
4. pupils that do not feel safe going to school or have limited access to high quality learning material
5. teachers searching for creative, active learning opportunities to supplement their courses or even to offer their own courses in the game.

Each language has its own world where you need to use the language to interact with the environment. Through learning and exploring, you progress in the game and narrative, and vice versa. As the active usage of a language is the main mechanic to play the game, you need to get better to progress, resulting in intrinsic motivation and self-directed deep learning.

All worlds and their contents are built, inhabited, governed and curated by independent DAOs consisting of first language (L1-)speakers, language professionals and high-level players (the latter need to succeed in an assessment first). This is made possible through distributed & modularized creation. You can contribute what you love and what you are best at. We are building the most intuitive level editor that splits the creation process into small parts and removes most of the complexity of creating a level. This is done through ProtonGraph, an FOSS-tool for non-destructive procedural 3D-modelling, which we are extending and adding intuitive interfaces and workflows (founder is on our team). https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/404305

https://github.com/protongraph/protongraph

We are also integrating Atala PRISM DIDs into our DAOs to independently prove your learning progress, language proficiency and in-game reputation via VCs in and outside of the game. At this point, we are thinking of creating our own emergent trust registry to protect against sybill attacks, meaning that DAO members need to verify new members in a personal chat and thus vouch for their proficiency and for them being humans, not bots. Emerging trust is build up from a person-to-person network and does not rely on KYC-services and support of your government.

We will collaborate with RootsID as our identity wallet provider once things are ready for this step. RootsID is the most promising open-source identity wallet for Atala PRISM, funded through Catalyst.

https://www.rootsid.com/

Aedou is designed with low barriers in mind and to provide a safe space for vulnerable groups. This includes private and anonymous participation, customizable button mapping and interfaces, options to integration of accessibility controllers/interfaces for disabled communities (e.g. playable with only-audio and only-visual), ...

Game-based learning - why we believe that games are ideal learning environments

Good games are designed to learn, practice and apply knowledge/skills. Games are creative, multi-sensory and intrinsically motivating experiences that allow for moments of flow with just the right amount of challenge to stimulate curiosity and avoid overload. This is crucial for deep learning, prolonged interest and continuous improvement. Also, you are only participating of your own free will, which is the core defining criteria for games in general (& having rules).

In games, failing isn't bad, but an existential part of the path to mastery. Try anything as often as you want, get stronger and eventually overcome your challenges. Experimentation, a.k.a. freely trying out stuff yourself, is not included in most formal curricula. In Aedou, experimentation is encouraged as you learn through actually using your new knowledge in a failure-safe environment. As 3D-games are synaesthetic and entertaining by nature, you will have lots of self-motivated positive associations, resulting in deep learning opportunities. Take your time and become fluent!

MMOs are dynamic and active learning environments for social and collaborative (or competitive) experiences, where content and places are clearly structured and always open to self-paced exploration. Players are encouraged to organize themselves in social groups. Sandbox games use the power of the community to create and manage vast amounts of content and interactions. Exploration of deep, rich and interactive content is key to both of these genres, and thus they are ideal for situated learning of complex topics, e.g. languages, in an immersive world.

Languages

At the start, the game is playable in 14+ supported languages. These are: English, Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish, French, Japanese, Swahili, German, Amharic, Oromo, Indonesian, Russian, Hindi and Portuguese.

To reach as many people as possible, we included the six official UN-languages (English, Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish, French, Russian) and added Hindi + Portuguese for two other massively and widely spoken languages. With these eight languages alone, we are able to offer half of the worlds population access to the game, which is super exciting!

We then thought about recent partnerships of Cardano and how to deliver maximum value and possibilities to these early adopters. In Tanzania, Cardano is building infrastructure with the World Mobile Group, so we added Swahili, which is another really important lingua franca across the African continent. The deal with the Ethiopian ministry of education is why we included Amharic and Oromo.

We recently added Indonesian and German to the list. Together with Japanese, these three languages have huge, active groups of L1-speakers in the Cardano community and great interest by language learning communities, which is why we need to strengthen the connections with these ecosystems right from the start.

All blockchain components are optional but offer lots of value

To earn, you need to become a member of a DAO with your DID and thus verify that you are a human being. This is necessary to protect us from bad actors that want to game the system. You can also simply play without verification, but you will also play without the added blockchain-benefits in that case.

We have our own native token which is the in-game currency and fuels the system. All revenue streams are exchanged to ADA via Smart Contract and redirected to the game's treasury. You can burn your tokens to redeem your fair share of the treasury.

Reputable members of the DAO get a small plot of virtual land for free to cultivate and build on top of. The land size increases depending on your rank and reputation inside the DAO. These land plots can also be rented out by their owners to create additional revenue streams for them, but the main idea is to give everyone the opportunity to represent themselves and to link to your existing services and goods.

All items can be minted into NFTs (e.g. mounts, pets, cosmetics, collectibles, ...) which you can mint on our platform and trade on other marketplaces. We will integrate open source wallets like GameChanger, Nami and CCvault.

We love the philosophy of SSI (Self-Sovereign-Identity) to own and control your own data. Likewise, you can choose to monetize your anonymized data through including them in a data set/package. Researchers and companies can then buy a data package to use in their researches, while you can earn a share of the generated revenue.

Market

Godot is the biggest open source engine in the world with a market share of 5%, and it's evolving at a rapid pace. Educational games have also seen huge interest and competition in the last decades with double digit growth per year. If you need further proof: Minecraft, the most-sold game in the world with 238 million copies, is building an education series for formal education in classrooms (same is true for Roblox). Games like Minecraft, Roblox or Fortnite, that also offer user-generated content, an own in-game economy and currency, report several hundred million monthly active users each.

Aedou has a revolutionary new concept and will provide immense value and adoption to the Cardano ecosystem on successful implementation.

One unique opportunity is for Aedou to become one of the first digital games that successfully combine playing with education. Shallow gamification/Serious Games most often result in a feeling of being cheated and thus being neither entertained nor educated. This is due to a lack of expertise in playing and a vast underestimation of the potential of games.

Smart Contracts are essential for Aedou's optional blockchain components, e.g. the treasury of ADA that is redeemable through our own native token, enabling play-to-earn functionalities.

Aedou also has the potential to attract new users to the platform that do have no connection or even heavy biases against blockchain technology. This is why all blockchain components are optional, but easily within reach for every user to explore at their own leisure and only if they decide to.

Cardano & Godot engine development delays resulting in blockers. Godot has launched their fourth alpha for the upgraded Godot 4 version, which enables highest-standard 3D-rendering capabilities like Vulkan and generally an even stronger engine. Our team is highly experienced in the Godot stack and can already work efficiently with the current alpha, which is already very stable.

Obviously, the development of Cardano protocol & Atala PRISM capacities are crucial to enable cheap and efficient smart contracts & handling of PRISM credentials & DIDs in connection to DAOs. If we do not have a scaling blockchain in Q4, we will only implement the most necessary parts and keep it lean until there is more capacity.

Another risk would be a lack of partnerships & collaborations on the language and blockchain part. The same is true for Community engagement & adoption. We have set up Discord servers to unite language enthusiasts and professionals to collect.

The risk of creating boring content is mitigated by extensive research into game-based learning and play-testing a lot with both unexperienced & seasoned gamers to achieve the most engaging outcomes for all.

[FEASIBILITY]

This proposal is a supplement to our main-proposal as the main-proposal only asks for the most basic wage to keep our team running. Please refer to our main proposal in the Gamers On-Chained Challenge: https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/401098

With this proposal, we want to give our team members the opportunity to devote even more of their time to the development of Aedou and/or to hire additional team members.

March 2022: Create Aedou-Discord and start onboarding language teams & language-focused funded proposals to open the discussion and gather their input. Finish playable prototype (playground) and start building basic levels and interfaces.

April 2022: Create and execute survey for market research. Continue building basic levels.

May 2022: Finish MVP for the game. Test basic levels and quests. Iterate together with the language teams.

June 2022: Design in-game tutorials and guidelines for creating quality content. Write/localize quests for all worlds/languages.

July 2022: Finish in-game base content. Finalize language acquisition model.

August 2022: First test-DAO formation for the language teams. Atala Prism-integration. Design NFTs & tokenomics. Write first whitepaper.

September 2022: Integrate with marketplaces. Integrate wallet + NFT-minting. Begin smart contract writing.

Q4 2022: Audit smart contracts. Optimization and improvement until first public Alpha (Q4, Q1 2023)

This budget is calculated to supplement the main-proposals most basic budget (only covers basic costs of living) to a decent and fair wage for the core team. It enables them to devote more of their time to the development process and also to have some money left at the end of the month (up to now, funding was only covering for living expenses). It also gives our language teams more capacity to get involved with the language side of Aedou while covering also for their basic living costs.

The main value for everyone involved will come from the initial token distribution.

Core team: 6 members * $1200 = $6000 per month

Language teams: 14 languages * $600 = $8400 per month

$14400 * 4 months = $57600

Mike Dietrich - has kicked off the Educhainment-collective and is responsible for audio/sound design, game design, game-based learning concept, managing/driving the general development process, blockchain concept and gathering collaborations, funding & partnerships. He is a first-cohort Plutus (+PRISM) Pioneer, Cultural Scientist, musician, teacher, lifelong gamer, Catalyst Boost grad and a big proponent of game-based learning.   https://www.educhainment.com

Gilles Rivière, better known as HungryProton, is an experienced software engineer and full stack developer, mostly responsible for the game development and procedural 3D-tech components. His previous public work for the Godot developer community includes tools like Scatter and ProtonGraph that extend the Godot engine's design capacities and enable non-destructive, procedural 3D-modeling. He draws lots of inspiration of some of his favourite game series (Zelda, Nier Automata, …)   https://github.com/HungryProton

Lucca Maia is our Art Direction, responsible for general graphic design, UX and media strategy. He is an accomplished visual artist and holds a degree in Social Communication and Media. He has long years of work experience in graphic design & illustration, working both in small and big teams. Likewise, he is addicted to creating and a game enthusiast.   https://www.lucartspace.com

Julian Bauch is our UX/UI designer and front end developer, building innovative interfaces and solving interaction challenges. He holds degrees in Computer Science and Design with diverse work experience in software development, front end, UX/UI and real-time generative art projects. Time and again, he's inspired by possibilities and loves to ask questions and innovate.     https://iuilan.com

Marie Tronnier is Educhainment’s linguistical backbone and in charge of coordinating the language teams as well as developing the language acquisition concepts for the game. Being a language enthusiast, Marie is constantly curious about studying and analyzing foreign languages such as Malay, Turkish, Norwegian, Russian and Hindi. She holds a masters degree in linguistics and intercultural communication.

For the sixth team member, we want to hire another Godot game dev. If the main proposal and this proposal get funded, we will use the remaining $1200/month to hire a dev for computational linguistics (experienced in natural language processing and machine learning).

We are also hiring one person per language as ambassadors and mods for the Aedou Discord. They will provide basic insights into their language from an in-culture viewpoint & grow/coordinate the efforts of the community. They are also required to localize basic quests and to test them with each other. With the successful funding of both proposals, we will be able to give them also a decent basic income or hire other language experts in addition.

[AUDITABILITY]

KPIs

1. Amount of language founding teams
2. Size of language founding teams
3. MAU on social media
4. Number of finished basic levels
5. Number of participants in market survey
6. Number of users who play-tested the prototype
7. Github commits

Long term KPIs:

1. Number of credentials issued
2. MAU of the game
3. Number of languages/subjects supported
4. Size of the treasury

For this funding period (May-August), we aim to finish the base content for the game and iterate on the MVP.

This includes completion of basic levels (in all languages), game mechanics and a first working version for our level editor.

It also includes the finalization of basic language content for each language to define common grounds and approaches to learning.

In August, we hope to include some first PRISM components and start the formation of test-DAOs. We will conclude this funding period with the first version of our whitepaper.

If we get funded for this proposal and the main proposal, we will be able to create more levels, more rigorous testing and have in general better and faster outcomes.

This proposal is a supplement to our main proposal in the Gamers On-Chained Challenge. Please refer to it here: https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/401098

It is also a continuation of our first funded proposal in Fund 6:

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/367037

Fund 7 version (not funded): https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/381663

ProtonGraph proposals (both not funded):

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/367171

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/382984

ProtonGraph is an existential building component of Aedou. We are applying again for Fund 8.

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/404305

Multilingual Cardano Hub was funded in Fund 7:

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/382940

This is not directly related to Aedou. We are using these funds exclusively to pay moderators for a multilingual Cardano Hub on Discord that informs and educates about Cardano and ongoing language-specific initiatives/projects. It also provides a safe space to communicate and connect with other people and projects of Cardano in your preferred language. We have dubbed it "MulCa-Hub" and are currently in the process of refining the channel structure and onboarding Catalyst projects & people.

SDG Rating

SDG rating

The SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) are very much connected to our core values. Aedou is directly in line with SDG 4 & 5, but also with 8, 9 & 10.

Aedou provides free & inclusive access to language learning material starting from basic literacy levels towards decent communication levels (CERF B1/2), no matter your ethnicity or gender. It aims to lower language barriers. It also provides training and upskilling opportunities to help get the skills that they need to succeed in life.

Aedou is an especially useful tool to learn literacy and numeracy in your first language (for children & adults). Literacy and numeracy is existential to participate in economic systems and get your dream job.

It also promotes sustainable sharing practices and cultural integrity. It can be a resource for researchers. In the long run, it also aims to act as an archive for the languages of the world.

4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

4.1.: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes

4.2.: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education

4.3.: By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university

4.4.: By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship

4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations

4.6 By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy

4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

4.a Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all

4.c By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing states

5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life

5.b Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women

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

8.3 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

8.9 By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products

8.a Increase Aid for Trade support for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, including through the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries

9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

9.1 Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all

9.5 Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending

10: Reduce inequality within and among countries

10.2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

10.3 Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard

10.6 Ensure enhanced representation and voice for developing countries in decision-making in global international economic and financial institutions in order to deliver more effective, credible, accountable and legitimate institutions

indirect correlation:

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

11.4 Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage

11.7 By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities

16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

17.6 Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism

17.9 Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation