Who’s world is this?
The world is yours, the world is yours
It’s mine, It’s mine, It’s mine – whose world is this?
So What’s Going on Exactly?
Over the rest of 2022 and early 2023, Illust will be merging its “Wallet to World” architecture with its “AR Layers” system to create “Map Channels”. Map channels are interactive maps where anyone can subscribe, visit, contribute, and encounter interactive AR experiences.
Think of this as an open and searchable site for different maps. Suppose you’re looking for a specific brand map, such as the Michelin Restaurant Map, the Final Fantasy Map for gaming, or the Nas map for music. In that case, Illust is building a framework for maps to be expressive, interest-based, and composable.
Why Are We Creating the New System?
Maps are some of the oldest technology we’ve developed. Some earliest maps date back to 25,000 BC as etchings in mammoth tusks. The interface for map technology has evolved little, yet there have been incredible leaps forward with augmented reality, blockchain, and GIS. Most dating, food delivery, recommendations, and navigation use geofencing and map systems to deliver their product offering.
The new paradigm isn’t “my space.” It’s “my world.”
Furthermore, these maps need to be more dynamic, are often Web1.0 products, have little room for collaboration, and need more composability. Maps have evolved little and are still static instruments in an increasingly dynamic world.
What is the New System?
Illust is closing this gap by creating cartography 3.0 software that enables any entity a simple way to create, share, and engage with a contextually aware map. It’s a responsive system for experiencing the world. Augmented reality renders location-based experiences, and the Proof of Presence (PoP) network creates a composable system of rewards, token-gated access controls, and map subscriptions. Furthermore, all map-based placements of messages, photos, videos, 3D models, and games can be minted on the blockchain via Illust’s Geospatial Registry (GSR) to decentralize the ecosystem and to be referenceable for other projects in Web3.0.
Further out, each Map Channel’s affiliated Smart Contract issues subscription tokens, voting, PoPs, and funds.
Further out, each Map Channel’s affiliated Smart Contract issues subscription tokens, voting, PoPs, and funds.
Who Will Use This?
With the feedback from our 1,000+ digital artists, musicians, creators, and web3 projects who’ve connected their accounts to Illust, we believe this technology will immediately benefit the following interest groups:
- Street Artists: native to the relationship between art and physical space, street art can disappear overnight, is hard to engage a community, and offers little opportunity for generating funds directly from the art. We see street artists find our customizable maps as a new way to archive their works and to get to know the people visiting their pieces.
- Activists: take to the streets to mobilize people. We see activists grabbing hold of our text to the messaging tool as a way to anchor stories, history, advice, insights, and discourse in a physical area. Currently, we’re working with an incredible AR activism organization, XRE & #MakeUsVisible, to create a global map of their activations.
- Music: it would be fun to walk in the shoes of our favorite artists before a live performance. Using the Illust map, musicians can create anchor points for the cities they visit, enumerating the various establishments they like to frequent. Super fans can claim Proof of Presence tokens for their activity on a specific artist creator map and are rewarded accordingly.
Our previous architecture was built for a crypto-native customer. The new application will extend far beyond the Web3.0 community yet still contain core features such as token-gating, NFTs, wallet-account integrations, decentralized storage, and other prime Web3.0 form factors we’ve found to be incredibly useful.
What Are Our Goals for the System?
We were hoping you could create and view your first AR effect.
Illust is a mobile app that provides tools to geofence content in physical space. Part of the Alpha launch will be launching a unique tool called “Text to 3D”, a way to draft 140-character messages anchored to a specific geofence. These messages can be either on-chain or centralized, but the decision is in the hands of the individual. All the messages are viewable in augmented reality, and some of the messages require channel subscriptions for access.
The goal for guests on the application is for new businesses to be created. Some immediate opportunities include:
- Audio/Visual tour guides and art walks around neighborhoods, museums, etc.
- Rewards cards for deals with local businesses
- Membership tokens for retail locations (coffee shops, escape rooms, etc.)
- Influencers sell subscriptions to access a curated map of their favorite restaurants, bars, music venues, hiking trails, etc.
- Comedians riffing at a museum or an aquarium, selling subscription tickets for their commentary
- Parallel experience at all of the major theme parks
- Building a cross-city scavenger hunt using the Proof of Presence network for check-ins and selling subscription tokens for access
- Secret “mint on location” opps from your favorite artists
If you have ideas for building a business using Illust’s suite of mapping tools, please don’t hesitate to reach out to partners@illust.space. Illust may sponsor your concept.
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