Blockchain and AR a Winning Solution at Elev8CON’s Startup Showcase

Eight companies gathered on stage at Elev8CON in Las Vegas on Dec. 10 to demonstrate how they are applying blockchain technology to solve real-world problems and improve financial industries.

The startup showcase session featured Gridfinity, a cloud-based mining company; Appliqate, a blockchain-based affiliate marketing solution; TemTum, a scalable blockchain network; DreamView Studios, a computer-generated imagery company for e-commerce; Knowbella Tech, a blockchain-based intellectual property platform; System9, a blockchain solution for institutional marketing; NGRAVE, a military-grade hardware wallet; and BlocWatch, an enterprise-blockchain focused security company.

While all of the startups demonstrated a variety of solutions to advance enterprise and financial services sectors, each company shared a common element – they all offered products being used by customers today. Waco Hoover, co-founder of Elev8CON, told Cointelegraph:

“The goal for the Elev8CON 2019 Startup Showcase was to provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs and companies to showcase how they are using blockchain and distributed ledger technology to solve problems facing enterprise and financial services sector firms.”

“One unique aspect of the program is that companies had to have a fully developed product being used by customers. With the ICO boom and bust behind us, selected companies represented extraordinary business models that are actually delivering value,” said Hoover.

Disrupting E-Commerce

Based on a number of judging criteria — such as a product’s market potential, the company’s leadership team, competitive advantages and legal requirements — the showcase judges decided that DreamView Studios offered the best overall solution.

Founded by computer-generated imagery experts, DreamView Studios is a cloud-based solution that produces 3D representations of products for the billion-dollar e-commerce market.

Euan Macdonald, CEO of DreamView Studios, told Cointelegraph, “The images you see on e-commerce websites are often taken by a photographer who has placed a product on a stage or into a lifestyle scene. We are making this much more cost-effective by creating 3D computer-generated images of these products that can stand alone or fit into different scenes.”

According to a slide Macdonald presented on stage, the combined revenue for production services and cloud-based platforms is expected to grow to $97 million by 2022. The slide also showed that DreamView has generated $200 thousand in revenue this year and expects that number to increase to $5.8 thousand by 2020.

“E-commerce is driving this transition because it’s cost-effective and consumers enjoy seeing 3D assets using augmented reality,” explained Macdonald.

DreamView studios is currently providing websites like Amazon, Target and Overstock with 3D furniture images, allowing consumers to interact with these images before making purchases.

Macdonald noted that companies like Wayfair would be considered a competitor, but DreamView remains unique in the sense that they have an entire studio with a dedicated pipeline and foundation to manage computer-generated imagery assets.

“We provide a complete solution for managing assets, creating lifecycle scenes and distributing these assets out among retailers like Amazon, Target and Overstock” said Macdonald.

The blockchain twist

While the combination of augmented reality and blockchain technology seems like the perfect buzz word scenario, DreamView Studios is proving that these two elements go beyond the hype.

DreamView Studios recently partnered with SUKU — an industry agnostic supply chain platform that aims to make commerce more transparent and efficient — to securely manage its digital assets. SUKU, which had been developing a supply chain providence solution for physical goods for the past two years, will provide truth verification for DreamView’s retailers and consumers.

Through SUKU, which leverages both the Ethereum and Quorum blockchains, online furniture retailers can enable virtual representations, as well as physical and digital traceability of individual furniture pieces. This also creates opportunities for customers to engage with the brand throughout the product’s journey from purchase to production, shipment and final ownership.

“SUKU provides a full physical to virtual product provenance solution, letting consumers see the marketing representation, while getting the security and knowledge that the product is real and accurate,” said Macdonald.

As the Elev8CON 2019 Startup Showcase winner, DreamView Studios will be featured on the ELEV8 website, social media accounts and marketing channels throughout the year.