Announcing: Causality

Today we are pleased to announce Causality, the API for the physical world.

Causality is a SaaS middleware for connecting physical goods to digital environments, which can include websites, mobile apps, game engines, SDKs, cloud applications, infrastructure and more. In other words, it enables creators to provide digital utility for physical goods (either their own items or for those of projects and products that they support). This is achieved through establishing a causal, mandatory link between the physical and its digital effect, providing a significant connection that makes the pairing continuously meaningful for end users.

What’s up with phygitals?

Regardless of how you feel about the term, phygital represents a modern day reality. 10 years ago it was a creative experiment [albeit a very successful one] primarily in the video game and toy industries. Today it is becoming a natural expectation for our physical goods to be interfaceable with our digital lives. This is especially true for upcoming generations who, much like the Internet itself, Bluetooth and soon enough even blockchain, will not know what the world was like without it. The picture coming together around the Metaverse has only catalyzed this and we can see it in solutions that transfer versions of our ‘selves’ — aka ‘avatars’ — into the digital plane. Perhaps the most well known example being ReadyPlayerMe. But what about our stuff?

The ubiquitousness and adoption of NFC tags, as well as NFC readers that we all carry in our pockets (aka: our mobile phones), are what has changed and are amongst the factors cited in our vision of physical goods being forward-compatible with the digital world. With hardware for interfacing physicals and giving them unique identifiers being cheaper and more available than ever, we’re seeing more mainstream offerings utilizing them.

Here’s the thing, though:

• Despite the affordability and availability of the NFCs themselves, creating infrastructure for an NFC-powered experience can sometimes be resource-intensive, especially if it’s a one-off or if hiring a specialized agency is involved.
• The majority of NFC experiences are locked into a single ecosystem.
• Thinking differently about the value, significance and potential of a physical good that is digitally interfaced can usher in a new world of physical/digital crossover for users.

Our approach

We’re going to unlock this potential by aiming for a SaaS solution somewhere between the ease of use found in other APIs and toolboxes, combined with an ecosystem of discoverability found in Steam, Epic Games Store, Uber Eats and other digital distribution ‘aggregates’.

The former saves creators and developers the cost of a custom app, backend and infrastructure — such is the way of Software as a Service — while the latter will encourage an exponential finding of other phygital experiences that are in your proximity (not just in terms of geography but in terms of content and substance). Naturally a free-to-use tier will exist with which we will be as generous as we can in terms of usage and whoever still wants to develop their own app can do so while still allowing others to create added value for their products.

Our hope is that this will usher a new era of phygital experience where creators are building not only for their own digitally-interfaced physical goods but also for those of others: business partners, collaborators, communities. In that way, creators of the physical items can crowdsource digital utility for it. At the same time, we want to bring in that whole middle part of the bell curve composed of individuals, indies and small-to-mid size studios, businesses and brands alongside the giants of industry whom we can cater to separately.

Causality will begin accepting API Early Access applications on March 9th 2023.

It’s not just about the platform and a synergetic ecosystem, it’s about changing the way we think about physical-digital connections in the first place. Through the use of unique identifiers such as NFC tags, these crossovers have the potential to provide a far more visceral experience to end-users. With Causality, the means to achieve that is through cause and effect. The Causality functionality is therefore built around a method we call Proof of Possession of Physical Goods (POPphy™, pronounced “pop-fi”). As opposed to Proof of Ownership which checks if a ledger or consensus deems that something belongs to you, or Proof of Sale which checks if you possess an entry of some sort dictating the rights endowed by a legal purchase, POPphy™ checks if the actual physical object is in your vicinity. Don’t have it? Can’t use it.

This is a profound way to think about phygital because of how it feels. Consider trying to wear a pair of shoes that aren’t around you, they are locked away in storage. You legally purchased them, you own them, but can you use them? Now bring that sensation to digital and the Metaverse and extrapolate its effect well beyond “digital twins”. Think of all the creative ways in which you can unlock a digital reaction or effect for a user, if-and-only-if they can prove having a specific physical item in their proximity.

Such a mandatory connection between the physical and digital is not only cerebral to the user, it can maintain the intrinsic (and nominal) value of the former granted by the latter, which may otherwise be lost should the two be separated.

A full article on this topic will be published in the coming weeks.

On March 9th, we’ll be having a virtual party (TBA) where owners of NFC-tagged physicals can each experience the true power of Causality for themselves.

Have an NFC-tagged physical? You can use it at the party (submit this form)!

In the meantime, visitors to ETH Denver can experience the first public integration of Causality by artist Cat Russel. His exhibit at the BurritoDAO ‘Art on Tap’ event is called Dark Adaptation, a limited-run 100 NFT drop derived from a physical art piece. The Causality-powered experience explores the nature of physical presence in the value of digital art, whereby visitors to the physical exhibit — and only those visitors — can add the artist’s signature to the digital piece through scanning the physical one.

Other partners already exploring Causality use-cases include:

• Hyperfy: a premier pocketverse within the world-creating community
• NFT Studios and sub-division Voxel Architects: among the most reputable Metaverse and solution builders
• DappRadar: the world’s dApp marketplace and leading stats website

Details of each and many more will be made available soon.

For the latest updates, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Medium.

Causality will begin accepting API Early Access applications on March 9th 2023.

Get in touch!

For press or investment related inquiries, please contact this email directly: power@causality.xyz

DIGITAL CREATORS / DEVELOPERS: Are you a digital creator or developer looking to integrate NFC-tagged physicals (your own physicals, those of your community or those of your business partners/collaborators) into your website / game / app / engine / SDK? Contact us here!

PHYSICAL CREATORS / BRANDS: Are you a manufacturer of physical goods that have NFC tags in them or are you considering adding NFC tags and want to know how Causality can help power them digitally? Contact us here!

COLLECTORS: Are you a collector and/or consumer of awesome swag, merch, products and collectibles — some of which have NFC tags in them? Contact us here!