Fergus Leleu is the founder and CEO of eShot Labs, who bring live NFT solutions to the sports and entertainment market.
Since the start of time, the human race has always believed in capturing emotions. The First Men, engraved writings and paintings on the inner walls of caves. Although centuries old, the viewers of today, in that brief moment, are teleported back in time with just a single gaze as though they were living the moment themselves. But the fact remains that there lacks a
‘real-time evidence’ of the moment in question.
History has a knack of repeating itself. Moments encapsulated have an equally unique way of transitioning through generations. Just like the human race, the art of capturing moments has also evolved with time. The Gutenberg Bible released in 1454 marked the start of “The Gutenberg Revolution” and the age of printed books in the Western World.
A few centuries later in 1839, Louis Daguerre, ‘The Father of Photography’ introduced a visual way of experiencing emotions via his niche invention of photography. Fair to say that with time, the visual aids at his disposal were slowly but surely getting better.
However, one could not say the same about their auditory effects. Although paintings and
photographs spoke volumes, the message delivered eventually was solely down to individual
perspectives. Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877 to ensure people have a more collective perception of what they see by giving historic creations & memories a voice.
The ability to record audio in the present and play it at any time in the future was definitely more appreciated than it is now.
Films have a way of utterly captivating viewers. Fiction well delivered almost seems non-fictitious. This was the foundation for the birth of the camera and projector in 1895 by the
Lumiere brothers. Thanks to them, the world could now watch and hear recordings simultaneously.
Ever since this groundbreaking revolution, people have been able to relate to scenarios and
experience emotions extensively. Soon, this phenomenon was relevant to the World Wide Web as well.
The technological evolution kickstarted in the 90s followed a similar pattern to the media
evolution that began in 1454.
The late 90s saw the world transition from a top-down to a bottom-up approach. What this
essentially meant is that consumers were now free to choose what content they wanted to
experience.
The world we popularly refer to as ‘Web 2.0’. The cliche: ‘change is the only constant’ could not be truer for the internet as we see many of us latching onto the buzzword of today that is ‘Web 3.0’, the successor to Web 2.0.
Hailed by many as “The Future of The Internet”, the viability of which still remains to be explored. Web3 is definitely an upgrade from its predecessor with incredible assets such as NFTs and the Metaverse. How relevant will these be going forward? That remains to be seen and only time can tell. A speculative future but one that promises great potential.
One thing that can be associated with the Web3 world with certainty is ownership. NFTs are evidence of that statement. A unique concept, NFTs are an evolution to owning digital assets. They use blockchain technology or ledgers and have gained popularity in the art industry and collectibles domain.
However, their scope is not limited to just that. They can be used for owning digital music, licensing and publishing. Their massive potential extends to consumer products such as concert tickets, physical goods, etc. ‘Nike’ is one renowned brand exploring this domain to apply it effectively to its products.
NFTs are the new way of owning emotions and moments. The old-fashioned or classic way was initially brought to the forefront by The Panini Group from Italy. The 1970 FIFA World Cup was different from the previous eight editions of the tournament.
Notably because of how the Panini Group from Italy made its mark by introducing to the world their FIFA World Cup Sticker Album. These stickers were a set of collectibles that featured teams, players and their stadiums which fans could purchase and trade with their fellow fans, especially the younger generation.
Fast forward to today, and Panini trading cards & collectibles can be found in over 100 countries and the group holds licensing rights of the Premier League, La Liga, The UEFA Champions League and more. The fans of today don’t just trade cards, they trade exclusive emotions and moments. NFTs are the evolution of those collectibles.
Sport has a classic way of inducing emotions in fans. Happiness is experienced collectively
across 60,000 live spectators even though there exist just 11 individuals on a football field who are directly responsible for a victory. The adrenaline flowing through your veins in those
moments is surreal. Imagine if you could own that moment and stake claim to it. Imagine if you could digitally store that moment of happiness in real time.
Revolution of ‘Live NFTs’: The bridge to owning an exceptional moment versus simply witnessing it live. The human race today is catching up slowly but surely to the new world of Web 3 that will essentially form the future. This decentralized way of exchanging information
amongst peers without any particular control by a regulatory, centralised, neutral body is what Web3 entails in simple terms.
A future whose viability is still speculated by many, but one that shows great potential and promise could be the way the world operates in the years to come.
The backbone of this new world would be content, live content giving people the joy to own it whilst experiencing it first-hand.
The future definitely looks bright, as it is ‘live’.