.ART Digital Twin / Certificat

Digital avatar of an art object

Essentially, Digital Twins are containers, or time capsules, in which the owner of an art object can reliably store a digital avatar of a physical art object, bridging physical and virtual worlds. While there are various modern technologies such as high-quality scanning and printing, all this data can be safely kept behind the right web address. One can also use Digital Twin to stream digital versions of artworks.

Cases of priceless monuments, disappearing without a trace as a result of theft, natural disasters, political upheavals or the destructive power prove the crucial need to create a global foundation for a digitized cultural heritage and to preserve the most precious things we have as humanity. Digitisation is also the only way to preserve street art and turn it into digital conceptual art that’s legal. It is also a way to immortalize forms of art that are temporary in their nature, such as street performances, improv shows or pop-up exhibitions. Every artwork needs its Digital Twin.

Crowdfunding platform & marketplace

Digital Twin is a reliable method of digital verification. Only domain names can have clear ownership, providing true evidence of trustworthiness. Each artwork is officially registered and contains all the necessary information about its owner using specially added site description fields, whether it is an art institution or a private person. Crowdfunding donors, therefore, can identify exactly where and for the benefit of which project their money goes. Everyone can make a contribution to the digitization of world cultural heritage and leave their name in history.

Digital Twin is also a marketplace capable of turning art objects into digital assets.

• Accumulate information about an object in one place and store different types of records: text files, images, videos, data files for 3-D printers, touring schedules, and so on.
• Regulate information access: the owner decides what information should be publicly accessible.
• Publicise or monetise information about the art object thus turning it into a digital asset: make pieces of information available selectively, e.g., academic references, articles, catalogues, audio and video guides.
• Add 3rd party services: image printing, memorabilia, gifts, museum store or limited-edition sales, etc.
• Incorporate blockchain into Digital Twin registrations.

Our team has made a rough estimate of how many art objects are currently stored in museums and galleries: at the moment, institutions all over the world contain more than a billion items on their books, shelves and storage rooms. Digitization of the entire amount will require billions of dollars. Although large donators are often willing to participate in such projects, their contribution is not enough. Only crowdfunding can give the project of digitizing the world’s cultural heritage a needed scale.

Gathering of art object-related information

Digital Twin domain names are universal containers for data, each with clear ownership, enabling smooth access of all users to the global information field. They are perfectly suitable to store any type of information — any relevant data that is valued by both artwork owners and patrons and makes art a true asset.

The information available about art objects on the Internet is scattered and decentralized. This makes it difficult to find the information you seek. There is a need to centralize all of the data about every art object in a single online address where one could obtain the entire volume of the necessary information the value of which is supported by the authority of an art object owner.

Digital Letter of Authenticity

Digital Twin can also function as a letter of authenticity for artworks. This new category of domain names, instead of identifying an organization, business or person, ties the domain name uniquely to an artwork or art object. Each artwork is officially registered by the owner of an art object and contains all the necessary information about the object using specially added site description fields. Just like offline certificates of authenticity, .ART Digital Twin contains author’s name, title, medium, dimensions, chain of custody and other related data. This data set is based on a standard by the J. Paul Getty Trust and endorsed by Interpol, Scotland Yard, UNESCO and other authoritative bodies.

• Track provenance. Digital Twin can establish and store an art object’s chain of ownership and movements around the globe. This technology is embedded in the online registration process of every domain name. The more profound track record of provenance there is, the more valuable an art object.
• Track art object usage. Art objects using Digital Twin are more visible and easier to track in the online space — providing control of when, where and how your art work is presented, while protecting your property rights.

Authenticity is the key part in art collecting. It provides proof of genuineness for everyone: artists who want to certify their works, art owners having an interest in the right investment decisions or art lovers who need only true art. In the digital era every artwork should have its digital letter of authenticity.

ENS deployment

In the Art Digital Twin model, the initial blockchain transaction occurs when the domain name is registered, so that each domain name registration used to record artwork data is accompanied by a corresponding transaction the blockchain version found in the Ethereum Name Service (ENS). This means that one can use their .art domain name as an identifier for a digital wallet.