NFT Use & Utility on AR Platforms

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

We believe that the most practical and useful role for a digitally scarce item like an NFT is in the context of an open world augmented reality (AR) game. Our AR game platform will allow users to both play and create content outdoors. These experiences can be enhanced while creating real world utility for Cardano by implementing digitally-scarce items and other status tokens that can be validated on chain.

A core principle has been to design a platform where anyone can create playable digital content to be experienced by others outdoors. It's here, at the crossroads of technology and nature, where we’ve found a natural overlap between the player's physical and digital experience that makes owning a digitally-scarce item (such as an NFT) truly valuable. 

For instance, awarding digital NFT prizes to the first few players that solve in-game puzzles or challenges. Those NFT prizes will then be used as a prerequisite to play or start other experiences within the overall ecosystem. Our in-game NFTs will naturally develop a secondary market as players will desire to purchase NFTs in order to gain access to verifiable prizes/credentials rather than complete all the prerequisite challenges. 

Content creators may also set up unique events or tournaments requiring a certain status that can only be achieved by owning, purchasing, or by having been awarded specific NFTs earned by completing in-game puzzles and challenges.

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

We believe our implementation of NFT's within our platform will naturally drive adoption of Cardano as it provides a useful way to experience NFT's natively in the context of an AR game that users are already enjoying. It will provide a real world use case that is not centered primarily on speculation but rather through augmented reality gaming experiences.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

The risk that is our primary concern is making the implementation of the NFT creations within our platform user friendly enough so as not to make it a hindrance to the platforms general adoption.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

We plan to commit our two primary developers to this implementation fulltime upon receipt of funding. The AR platform is in a beta testing phase and is planned for limited local release in the US this year and worldwide in 2023. We have been developing the project as a part time endeavor. This funding will allow the two primary developers to commit themselves fulltime to completing and releasing the project.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

The funds will primarily be used to fund our two primary developers for the next two years and to retain freelance programmers where strategically viable ($240,000). The remaining funds ($60,000) will be used to fund additional content creation, marketing and basic digital infrastructure.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

Brandon Wirtz.

CEO of DigiScape

brandon@digiscape.org

www.linkedin.com/in/brandonrwirtz/

Seth Ddeming.

COO of DigiScape

www.linkedin.com/in/sethdeming/

James Gregory.

Lead Developer

www.linkedin.com/in/james-gregory-3037a1a/

Adam Wirtz

Developer/CLO

www.linkedin.com/in/adamwirtz/

Brendan P.

Developer

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

Future funding may be useful after our implementation has been completed. We may seek additional funding to drive adoption by developing various incentive models to encourage users to experiment and discover new uses for the NFT's within the platform.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

As part of our implementation, we will be tracking a number of different metrics related to how NFTs impact the way that users design and experience content on the platform. A few of the metrics will attempt to answer questions like these: 

Do these players migrate towards the content with NFTs versus the content created without NFTs?

Do these users seek NFTs outside of our platform and do they adopt Cardano for other use cases?

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

Our NFT implementation will be successful when players on our AR platform are able to collect digital items within the platform that they can use, keep, or trade in an open world market without the consent of us (the platform developers) or anyone else.

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

This is a new project.