Chronicled Launches Open Registry for Consumer IoT on Ethereum Blockchain
Blockchain startup Chronicled has launched the first of its kind ‘open registry for Internet of Things’ on the Ethereum blockchain, enabled via NFC and BLE microchips.
Heralding the new open registry as a major leap in the growth and interoperability of the consumer Internet of Things, Chronicled announced the open source project under the Apache License.
The San Francisco-based technology firm revealed that the registry will store the identity of consumer goods and collectibles that are embedded with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Near Field Communication (NFC) microchips. Approximately 10,000 tamperproof BLE & NFC chips have already been deployed, a press release by Chronicled announced yesterday.
Chronicled CEO Ryan Orr stated:
Chip companies, physical IP creators, and brands can now register and verify their BLE and NFC chips on a public blockchain. These tamperproof chips can be ordered today and are already being deployed in consumer goods.
Effective Consumer Engagement
The chips help in enabling proximity-based consumer engagement tasks while in a secure, interoperable digital identity platform. The inclusion of IoT chips within private databases enables an interoperable back-end among a number of brands and retailers to tap into consumer Internet of Things in more effective ways.
With this technology, developers can leverage identity and proximity verification of a physical item to deliver protected digital content and powering bespoke user engagement services.
Chronicled provided an example of the implementation of the open registry, wherein a retailer or brand could offer or push rewards to consumers wearing or using specific products in real-time. In another use-case, an artist signing his or her painting with a tamperproof digital chip, a buyer could use a smartphone to verify the work’s authenticity and provenance. Furthermore, the patron can also securely purchase, insure, collateralize or even transfer ownership of the artwork elsewhere.
Johann Barbie, CTO of Ambisafe, a California-based enterprise blockchain startup working with Chronicled in the endeavor added:
[T]his could become one of the largest non-monetary uses of blockchain developed to date. Billions of IoT chips will be shipped over the next 5 years.
Private Brands, Public Blockchain
The collaborative approach employed by Chronicle was further elaborated upon by the company’s chief product officer, Samantha Radocchia. She stated:
Developers are invited and encouraged to build their own proprietary applications leveraging the public registry. Importantly, the registry is an open source layer and is not proprietary to Chronicled, Inc. It is a public good designed to outlive the lifespan of any company. Brands, chip companies and developers utilizing the registry cannot be locked in, monetized or forced to cede control over business critical data and customer relationships.
Earlier in March 2016, Chronicled raised $3.4 million in a round of financing to help develop and release “smart-tags” as a means to prevent counterfeiting in the multi-billion dollar sneakers market. These smart-tags were later revealed to be 3-D printed, costing a few dollars each.
Featured image from Ethereum.
