VR Needs Blockchain to Solve Copyright Issues: Interview with Cappasity Founder

The AR/VR world is rapidly expanding, and the need for 3D images has increased radically. Google and other sites have created databases of images, but can arbitrarily refuse service to some users, and charge very high rates to others. 

In this undersupplied market space, Cappasity is seeking to bridge the gap between creators and users with a number of unique tools. Cointelegraph sat down with the founder, Kosta Popov to understand what the business model is, and how it will disrupt the AR/VR 3D image world. 

Cointelegraph: You’ve been in the 3D tech space for more than 10 years. How do you see the AR/VR world changing right now, and where is it heading over the next five years?

Kosta Popov: More and more devices are entering the market, and they keep getting cheaper, more powerful and overall better than ever before. AR tech is no longer a novelty, as working products are present in many homes around the world. We expect this rapid growth of the industry to continue into the future. This is mostly thanks to Apple - the company has made clear its intention to keep working on the development of AR technologies by designing great tools for the creation of AR-based apps. 

However, there is an unresolved ‘chicken and egg’ problem which impedes potential growth. The consumers want to see a lot of diverse content, as opposed to just photo and video. At the same time, app developers don’t have a fast and cheap option for VR/AR content creation, and not everyone has a budget big enough to do what they want. The industry is growing slower than it could have due to the lack of accessible content creation options. 

CT: How is your company Cappasity seeking to position itself to meet the needs of the changing AR/VR landscape?

KP: We have already launched a platform for the creation and integration of content into online shops, and we have plans to enter other industries and develop a truly global platform for everything AR/VR-related. The means for this expansion is our Cappasity Ecosystem. 

The Ecosystem consists of an infrastructure layer and a marketplace layer, and both are based on Cappasity platform technologies. The infrastructure layer encompasses the Blockchain, software toolkits, and decentralized storage. Content creators and moderators will be able to manage content directly within the infrastructure layer.

The marketplace layer is for content exchange, and the sandbox area as a testing environment for AR/VR/3D content. Businesses and consumers will have access through the marketplace layer to a host of 3D images and data. 

CT: In terms of user functionality, what makes Cappasity’s platform unique?

KP: We offer a unified solution for the creation and optimization of 3D content called ‘3D View’. In contrast to complicated photogrammetry techniques, the tool can equip every person with the ability to easily create quality 3D content of real objects and put them up for sale.

A module for 3D modeling of large objects, such as buildings or landscapes, with mobile devices or drones is in the platform pipeline. The software will be adapted for drone 3D shooting and will not require a lot of computing power, so that it will work rapidly on laptops and smartphones.

Another unique feature of the Cappasity Ecosystem is a marketplace which functions as a buy-and-sell area where 3D and other AR/VR content exchange happens through the Ecosystem. There will be two main categories of goods: AR/VR/3D content and AR/VR/3D apps.

CT: How does Blockchain technology fit into the Cappasity platform, and how does including Blockchain make your platform more viable than other content databases?

KP: The Ecosystem stakeholders, i.e. content creators, app developers, businesses and consumers, need to be assured that their copyrights are respected. That’s why all content exchange details are immutably stored in the Blockchain. These details form a record of transactions and a record of license if a transfer commercial rights’ has taken place. 

CT: Cappasity has already been very successful in the VC world, raising $1.8 mln in funding. What lead to the decision to conduct a token sale as well? 

KP: We think that a token sale is, first and foremost, an opportunity to create a community of people enthusiastic about 3D tech, which will form a basis for an ecosystem of content creators and consumers. A token sale is also a great tool for the fair distribution of tokens among early adopters. 

CT: Assuming the token sale is successful, where do you see the company using the funds you’ve been able to raise?

KP: Cappasity will invite the AR/VR community as well as the crypto community to contribute to AR/VR Ecosystem development by taking part in the ARToken sale. In response, a fair share of contributions will be reserved in form of endowment funds to support AR/VR/3D innovators and active Ecosystem contributors.

Further, we will create a reward fund for users as an endowment providing the makers of the most popular content with weekly rewards and encouraging active community members to moderate and upvote.

CT: If you were speaking to a potential token sale participant, what would you tell them? 

KP: We offer you to take part in bringing about the future. AR/VR tech is changing the way we interact with the world and consume information. The industry is still nascent, and if you want to be there when it all started, we will be glad to see you become a member of our platform.

CT: What further plans does Cappasity have to expand the platform you’re creating? 

KP: The platform will provide its API to upload content to one of the databases and to access platform complementary features such as an embedding solution for developers, a Cappasity AI tool for designers and marketers, a remeshing solution for better rendering of polygon models, and a 3D measurement solution used to measure the size of an object based on its 3D image.

As the AR/VR world continues to expand, there will undoubtedly be many more applications and solutions that will be required, and in which the Cappasity system will be an industry leader.