Activation architecture for handling digital assets and related physical products

Abstract

To provide a digital asset system that interconnects processing of digital assets and related physical products within an enterprise network.SOLUTION: Digital assets may be generated and updated based on a number of factors including the interactions with the digital asset within an enterprise network and the physical and commercial attributes of related physical products. Digital assets may be dynamically updated based on real-world conditions and utilized to facilitate cross-system interaction between users, manufacturing, and user engagement systems.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to a novel architecture for securely interconnecting various systems, including digital asset systems, physical product systems, and user actions across those systems. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to managing digital assets and corresponding physical products while facilitating cross-system interactions between users, manufacturing, and interactive user engagement systems that use the digital assets. [Background technology]

[0002] The digitization of physical products has become very popular in recent years. Digital assets may be made available by businesses through their various networking platforms, including digital games, social media systems, membership / customer engagement programs, online storefronts, and online financial systems, to name a few. In general, digital assets are a mechanism for businesses to extend the utility of their physical products into the digital realm, thereby increasing overall engagement with the products offered through the business's various platforms. For example, digital assets related to physical products may be offered in the context of a video game. The digital assets may allow the physical product to be digitally reproduced as a usable item within the video game. As another example, some digital assets may be created to increase customer loyalty to a business's services or products through membership programs.

[0003] Technologies such as distributed ledgers (e.g., blockchain) have further transformed the digital asset landscape into two intertwined forms: enabling the creation of digital assets while verifiably tracking ownership of such digital assets. However, existing capabilities that utilize these digital assets have little real value to customers outside of specific related services or products, and beyond the assets themselves. For example, current digital assets are static creations that have little relationship to real-world objects and are limited to what is offered by the company. A system that enhances the value of digital assets beyond being merely virtual representations would be beneficial for companies to further increase user engagement and loyalty. Summary of the Invention

[0004] According to some embodiments, methods, systems, and non-transitory computer-readable media are claimed that include operations for securely distributing a plurality of digital assets through a digital activation layer. The digital activation layer may comprise a distributed ledger for activating a digital wallet associated with a user device of a plurality of user devices in response to the user device connecting to the digital activation layer. In some embodiments, the distributed ledger is implemented as a blockchain network and includes an association between the digital wallet and the user device stored in a block in the blockchain network. The digital wallet may be associated with the user device.

[0005] The digital activation layer may receive a request from a user device for ownership of a digital asset of the plurality of digital assets. The distributed ledger may further store an association between the digital asset and the physical product in a block in the blockchain network. The digital activation layer may further store the digital asset (e.g., in a database or other storage means external to the digital activation layer) following receiving a request for ownership of the digital asset in the digital wallet.

[0006] Additional operations performed by the digital activation layer may further include receiving an action to perform on the digital asset from the user device and performing the action on the digital asset. In some embodiments, the action is configured to delay or hasten initiation of a second action related to the physical product, the second action being performed by a backend layer in communication with the digital activation layer. In some embodiments, the backend layer may be implemented as a backend system controlled by the enterprise.

[0007] Additional operations performed by the digital activation layer may include updating an ownership characteristic of the digital asset based on performing an action on the digital asset, and sending a signal from the digital activation layer to the backend system configured to cause the backend system to initiate a second action related to the physical product based on the ownership characteristic.

[0008] Additional features of embodiments of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

[0009] The present invention includes the following embodiments. [1] A method for safely distributing multiple digital assets through a digital activation layer that constitutes a distributed node system, comprising: activating, in response to a user device of the plurality of user devices connecting to a digital activation layer, a digital storage component associated with the user device on a distributed node system, the distributed node system including an association between the digital storage component and the user device; receiving, from a user device, a request for ownership of a digital asset of a plurality of digital assets, the distributed node system including a block that identifies an association between the digital asset and a physical product; subsequent to receiving a request for ownership of the digital asset, storing the digital asset in a digital storage component; receiving from a user device an action to perform on a digital asset; performing an action on the digital asset by a digital activation layer, the action being configured to delay or accelerate initiation of a second action related to the physical product, the second action being performed by a back-end system in communication with the digital activation layer; and updating an ownership characteristic of the digital asset based on performing an action on the digital asset. [2] The method of [1], wherein the action includes at least one of moving the digital asset to another user device among the plurality of user devices, digitally destroying the digital asset, and digitally retaining the digital asset. [3] The method of [2], wherein updating ownership characteristics based on moving the digital asset to another user device includes moving the digital asset from a digital storage component to another digital storage component associated with the other user device. [4] Digitally storing digital assets is The method of [2], further comprising sending a second signal from the digital activation layer to the backend system configured to prevent the backend system from initiating a second action related to the physical product. [5] The method of [1], in which the distributed node system is a quasi-private blockchain network. [6] The method of [1], wherein the digital asset is a non-fungible token generated based on at least one physical attribute of a physical product. [7] The ownership characteristic identifies a physical address, and a second action relates to a physical product. initiating a shipping procedure by a shipping subsystem in the back-end system to send the physical product to a physical address; initiating a production procedure to manufacture a physical product by a production subsystem in the back-end system; and preventing a production subsystem from initiating a production procedure to manufacture a physical product; The method of [1], which includes at least one of the following: [8] The method of [1], wherein each digital asset in the plurality of digital assets is associated with a physical product. [9] determining, via a back-end system, scarcity attributes associated with the physical product; determining a number of the plurality of digital assets to generate based on the scarcity attribute; and The method of [8], further comprising generating a plurality of digital assets based on the determined number.

[10] identifying a second user device among the plurality of user devices that owns a second digital asset among the plurality of digital assets; depositing a third digital asset into a digital storage component associated with the user device, the third digital asset being based on an attribute associated with the user device; and The method of [8] further comprising depositing a fourth digital asset to a second digital storage component associated with the second user device, wherein the third digital asset and the fourth digital asset are deposited based on the third digital asset and the second digital asset, and the fourth digital asset is based on an attribute associated with the second user device.

[11] A system for securely distributing multiple digital assets through a digital activation layer that constitutes a quasi-private distributed node system, the system comprising: The system has a digital activation layer that configures a distributed node system, and the digital activation layer: activating, on a distributed node system, a digital storage component in response to a user device of the plurality of user devices connecting to a digital activation layer, the distributed node system including an association between the digital storage component and the user device; receiving, from a user device, a request for ownership of a digital asset of a plurality of digital assets, the distributed node system including a block that identifies an association between the digital asset and a physical product; subsequent to receiving a request for ownership of the digital asset, storing the digital asset in a digital storage component; receiving from a user device an action to perform on a digital asset; performing an action on the digital asset by a digital activation layer, the action being configured to cause a delay or hasten initiation of a second action related to the physical product, the second action being performed by a back-end system in communication with the digital activation layer; updating an ownership characteristic of the digital asset based on performing an action on the digital asset; sending a signal from the digital activation layer to the backend system configured to cause the backend system to initiate a second action related to the physical product based on the ownership characteristic;

[0023] The back-end system includes a dispatch subsystem, the back-end system Based on the signal received from the digital activation layer, initiate a second action related to the physical product based on the ownership characteristic. The system further comprises:

[12] The system of

[11] , wherein the action includes at least one of moving the digital asset to another user device among the plurality of user devices, digitally destroying the digital asset, and digitally retaining the digital asset.

[13] The system of

[12] , wherein updating ownership characteristics based on moving the digital asset to another user device includes moving the digital asset from a digital storage component to another digital storage component associated with the other user device.

[14] Digitally storing digital assets is

[12] The system of

[12] further comprising: sending a second signal from the digital activation layer to the backend system configured to prevent the backend system from initiating a second action related to the physical product.

[15] The system in

[11] is a semi-private blockchain network with a distributed node system.

[16] The system of

[11] , in which the digital asset is a non-fungible token generated based on at least one physical attribute of a physical product.

[17] The system of

[11] , wherein the ownership characteristic identifies a physical address, and a second action related to the physical product includes initiating a shipping procedure by a shipping subsystem in the back-end system to send the physical product to the physical address.

[18] The system of

[11] , wherein each digital asset in the plurality of digital assets is associated with a physical product.

[19] The digital activation layer determining, by a back-end system, a scarcity attribute associated with the physical product; determining a number of the plurality of digital assets to generate based on the scarcity attribute; and generating a plurality of digital assets based on the determined number; The system of

[18] , further configured to:

[20] A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code stored thereon, the program code being for a digital activation layer constituting a distributed node system, activating, on a distributed node system, digital storage components in response to the user device connecting to the digital activation layer, the distributed node system including associations between the digital storage components; receiving, from a user device, a request for ownership of a digital asset of a plurality of digital assets, the distributed node system including a block that identifies an association between the digital asset and a physical product; subsequent to receiving a request for ownership of the digital asset, storing the digital asset in a digital storage component; receiving from a user device an action to perform on a digital asset; performing an action on the digital asset by a digital activation layer, the action being configured to delay or hasten initiation of a second action related to the physical product, the second action being performed by a back-end system in communication with the digital activation layer; updating an ownership characteristic of the digital asset based on performing an action on the digital asset; A non-transitory computer-readable medium executable to cause operations including:

[21] A program executed by a computer, the program code being for a digital activation layer constituting a distributed node system, activating, on a distributed node system, digital storage components in response to the user device connecting to the digital activation layer, the distributed node system including associations between the digital storage components; receiving, from a user device, a request for ownership of a digital asset of a plurality of digital assets, the distributed node system including a block that identifies an association between the digital asset and a physical product; subsequent to receiving a request for ownership of the digital asset, storing the digital asset in a digital storage component; receiving from a user device an action to perform on a digital asset; performing an action on the digital asset by a digital activation layer, the action being configured to delay or hasten initiation of a second action related to the physical product, the second action being performed by a back-end system in communication with the digital activation layer; updating an ownership characteristic of the digital asset based on performing an action on the digital asset; A program that is executable to perform operations including:

[0010] Furthermore, the present invention includes the following embodiments. [1] A method for securely distributing a plurality of digital assets via a digital activation layer implemented within an enterprise network, comprising: receiving a request from a user device to register with an enterprise network; In response to receiving the request, activating a digital storage component associated with the user device on a node of the distributed node system managed by the digital activation layer; generating a plurality of digital assets as part of a digital asset drop via a digital activation layer; depositing, by the digital activation layer, a digital asset of the plurality of digital assets into a digital storage component, the digital asset being associated with a product; receiving from a user device an action to perform on a digital asset; and performing, by a digital activation layer, an action on the digital asset, the action being configured to delay or accelerate a time period for initiating a second action related to the product. [2] The method of [1], wherein the second action is taken by a back-end system in communication with the digital activation layer. [3] The method of [1], wherein the digital activation layer is configured to establish a connection with an external system located outside the enterprise network. [4] The external system is configured to implement a third party application, and the method further comprises: The method of [3], further comprising importing the digital assets to the external system via the connection for use by the third party application. [5] The method of [4], wherein the third party application is a video game application. [6] The method of [4], wherein the third party application is a social media application. [7] The method of [3], in which the digital activation layer is implemented as a blockchain network and the connection to external systems is implemented as a sidechain network separate from the blockchain network. [8] The method of [7], wherein the digital activation layer is configured to import digital assets into an external system via a sidechain network. [9] Generating multiple digital assets as part of a digital asset drop obtaining a usage metric associated with the product, the usage metric indicative of at least one of a popularity of the product or a sales volume of the product; The method of [1], further comprising generating digital assets based on the usage metrics.

[10] The method of [1], wherein the digital asset is a non-fungible token generated based on at least one physical attribute of the product.

[11] A second action related to the product is Initiating a production procedure to manufacture the product by a production subsystem in the back-end system; and Preventing the production subsystem from initiating a production procedure to manufacture the product; The method of [1], which includes at least one of the following:

[12] A system for safely distributing multiple digital assets, the system comprising: A digital activation layer implemented within an enterprise network, the digital activation layer comprising: receiving a request from a user device to register with an enterprise network; In response to receiving the request, activating a digital storage component associated with the user device on a node of the distributed node system managed by the digital activation layer; generating a plurality of digital assets as part of a digital asset drop via a digital activation layer; depositing, by the digital activation layer, a digital asset of the plurality of digital assets into a digital storage component, the digital asset of the plurality of digital assets being associated with a product; receiving from a user device an action to perform on a digital asset; performing, by a digital activation layer, an action on the digital asset, the action being configured to delay or accelerate a time period for initiating a second action related to the product; A system configured to:

[13] The second action is taken by a back-end system communicating with the digital activation layer of the system of

[12] .

[14] The system of

[12] , wherein the digital activation layer is configured to establish connections with external systems located outside the enterprise network.

[15] the external system is configured to implement a third-party application, and the digital activation layer is Importing digital assets into external systems for use by third-party applications through said connections The system of

[14] is further configured as follows.

[16] The system of

[15] , wherein the third party application is a video game application.

[17] The system of

[15] , where the third-party application is a social media application.

[18] The system of

[14] , in which the digital activation layer is implemented as a blockchain network and the connection to external systems is implemented as a sidechain network separate from the blockchain network.

[19] To generate multiple digital assets as part of a digital asset drop, a digital activation layer: obtaining a usage metric associated with the product, the usage metric indicative of at least one of a popularity of the physical product or sales of the product; Generating digital assets based on usage metrics; The system of

[12] , further configured to:

[20] A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code stored thereon, the program code providing a digital activation layer implemented within an enterprise network, the digital activation layer comprising: receiving a request from a user device to register with an enterprise network; In response to receiving the request, activating a digital storage component associated with the user device on a node of the distributed node system managed by the digital activation layer; generating a plurality of digital assets as part of a digital asset drop via a digital activation layer; depositing, by the digital activation layer, a digital asset of the plurality of digital assets into a digital storage component, the digital asset being associated with a product; receiving from a user device an action to perform on a digital asset; performing, by a digital activation layer, an action on the digital asset, the action being configured to delay or accelerate a time period for initiating a second action related to the product; A non-transitory computer-readable medium executable to cause operations including:

[21] A program executed by a computer, the program code including: receiving a request from a user device to register with an enterprise network; In response to receiving the request, activating a digital storage component associated with the user device on a node of the distributed node system managed by the digital activation layer; generating a plurality of digital assets as part of a digital asset drop via a digital activation layer; depositing, by the digital activation layer, a digital asset of the plurality of digital assets into a digital storage component, the digital asset being associated with a product; receiving from a user device an action to perform on a digital asset; performing, by a digital activation layer, an action on the digital asset, the action being configured to delay or accelerate a time period for initiating a second action related to the product; A program that is executable to perform operations including:

[0011] The accompanying drawings are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an activation architecture for processing digital and physical products, according to some embodiments. [Figure 2A] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an activation architecture including various components for processing digital and physical products, according to some embodiments. [Figure 2B] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of a digital activation layer including various components for processing digital and physical products, according to some embodiments. [Diagram 3] 1 is a flowchart illustrating steps for processing a digital asset in combination with a physical product, according to some embodiments. [Figure 4] 1 is a flowchart illustrating steps for generating a digital asset, according to some embodiments. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating communication between various devices in a system for processing digital assets in combination with physical products, according to some embodiments. [Figure 6] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process for customizing a digital asset, according to some embodiments. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process for generating rewards associated with digital assets, according to some embodiments. [Figure 8] 1 is a flow chart illustrating a process for incorporating digital assets into a third party system, according to some embodiments. [Figure 9] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process for processing digital assets based on smart contracts for implementing blockchain technology, according to some embodiments. [Figure 10A-C] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary digital asset view, according to some embodiments. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 illustrates an example computer system useful for implementing various embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate the same or similar elements, and the leftmost digit(s) of a reference number generally identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

[0014] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. References such as "one embodiment," "one embodiment," "exemplary embodiment," "some embodiments," and the like, mean that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all embodiments include that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in the context of one embodiment, it is believed to be within the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art to affect that feature, structure, or characteristic in the context of other embodiments, whether or not explicitly stated.

[0015] The words "invention" or "present invention" are used herein as open-ended terms and are not intended to refer to any one embodiment of that particular invention, but rather encompass all possible embodiments described in this application.

[0016] Various aspects of the present invention, or portions or features thereof, may be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, a tangible computer-readable or computer-usable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, or any combination thereof, and may be implemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems.

[0017] The present disclosure is directed to an architecture for generating and processing digital assets and physical products. The architecture includes a digital activation layer that uses a distributed ledger that stores information about each user in a secure manner in a digital wallet and allows for tracking of ownership of digital assets back to the ownership of related physical products. A distributed ledger is a network construct that may be implemented as a distributed network or node system of nodes that cooperate to maintain a synchronized immutable database. In some embodiments, the digital activation layer may be used within an enterprise network of a company that both provides physical products and generates digital assets based on attributes of the physical products.

[0018] In some embodiments, the physical product may be, for example, an article of footwear or an article of clothing. Examples of articles of footwear include shoes, boots, or sandals of any type. Examples of articles of clothing include baseball caps, shirts, pants, shorts, and socks.

[0019] The distributed ledger components in the digital activation layer may be responsible for digital asset management within the enterprise network and with systems external to the enterprise network. For example, in some embodiments, the digital activation layer enables cross-system usage of digital assets across enterprise systems including membership, e-commerce (e.g., purchasing, digital wallet management, marketplace), security (e.g., authentication, digital asset tracking), and physical product systems (e.g., production, shipping). In some embodiments, the digital activation layer may also connect to external systems such as video game providers, physical stores, and other service or product providers such as social media websites. At least some embodiments of the digital activation layer using distributed ledger components meet the above needs and provide further related advantages as will be made clear by the following description.

[0020] Some embodiments of the present invention relate to utilizing a digital activation layer to create and manage digital assets in combination with physical products. In one embodiment, the digital assets are guaranteed unique tokens (e.g., non-fungible tokens or NFTs). The physical products may represent physical equivalents of the digital assets. For example, the digital activation layer may generate digital assets based on certain attributes of the physical products. In one embodiment, the digital assets may be implemented as digital clothing items that correspond to one or more attributes of physical wear items such as shirts, hats, or footwear. A distributed ledger in the digital activation layer may provide a marketplace where the digital assets may be purchased. Users may also buy, sell, or trade digital assets through the digital activation layer. The digital activation layer may process the physical products corresponding to the digital assets based on actions taken on the digital assets. Examples of such processing include customizing the physical products, shipping the physical products to the owners of the digital assets, and blocking the digital assets from being shipped for a predetermined period of time.

[0021] Additional embodiments of the present invention also relate to taking advantage of the distributed ledger components in the digital activation layer to improve user engagement with an enterprise by expanding the use of digital assets in both real-world and virtual environments. As the distributed ledger pertains to both digital and physical products, it allows for secure tracking of user actions within the enterprise system, and uses that information to customize additional services and products to encourage users to return to the enterprise network. For example, new types of digital assets may be generated based on specific interactions by users within the enterprise system, such as with other users, or through interactions with digital assets provided through the digital activation layer. As another example, user actions may involve interactions related to physical products synced with digital assets (e.g., walking around virtually wearing digital clothing via a companion app on a mobile device), user actions regarding digital assets (e.g., social media activities promoting digital assets to other users), or real-world actions (e.g., visiting a physical store, purchasing a physical product). Such additional services or products may require customization of a user's profile or generation of digital assets, which can be dropped into the user's digital wallet and used to grant the user certain benefits, such as promotional activities for physical products (e.g., early access, lower prices) or actions regarding the digital assets (e.g., customization of the digital assets, importing into third-party applications).

[0022] Additional embodiments of the present invention may further relate to the creation of a metaverse environment that connects both the enterprise network and additional external systems and enables the incorporation of digital assets into third-party systems. In one embodiment, the external systems may include one or more networks associated with a product manufacturing system, one or more social media networks, one or more video games, and a physical store capable of converting digital assets into physical equivalents. In one embodiment, the external system may be implemented as a retail system capable of selling digital assets and / or selling physical equivalents of digital assets. In one embodiment, the external system may be implemented as an application server that provides access to third-party applications, such as a video game system (e.g., Fortnight, Minecraft, World of Warcraft, or Overwatch) and social media applications. The digital activation layer utilizes a distributed ledger to connect digital assets to such separate systems. The advantage of a distributed ledger in this system is that it allows verifiable and authenticated ownership of digital assets to be shared between systems, ensuring that trusted transactions occur between the systems.

[0023] Thus, the embodiments described herein enable the creation and management of digital assets and corresponding physical products in novel ways through the use of a distributed ledger that coordinates the storage and distribution of information related to digital assets, corresponding physical products, and users, all of which may be implemented within the context of an enterprise system. That is, the digital activation layer leverages the benefits of a distributed ledger to bridge disparate systems in a secure manner to dynamically generate and coordinate new digital assets, both inside and outside of enterprise systems, based on user actions stored across those systems.

[0024] Exemplary Digital Asset System 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example implementation of a digital asset system 100. In this example implementation, the digital asset system 100 includes a backend layer 110, a digital activation layer 118, and user devices 122A and 122B. The user devices 122A and 122B may correspond to different users (e.g., different customers) of the digital asset system and may be implemented as any one of a computing system, a computing device, a laptop, a desktop, a mobile phone, a tablet, a software module, a database system, a virtual machine, a wearable item, an appliance, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a group of machines, etc., to name a few examples.

[0025] User devices 122A and 122B may communicate with backend layer 110 via digital activation layer 118. User devices 104 and 108 and backend layer 110 may connect to digital activation layer 118 through communications links, which may be wired and / or wireless (or a combination thereof) and may include any combination of LAN, WAN, cellular, and satellite.

[0026] The backend tier 110 may include components (described in further detail in FIG. 2) for managing and providing access of the user devices 122A and 122B to a physical inventory 112 of physical products and a digital asset marketplace 114 that provides user access to digital assets. For example, in managing the user device 122A, the backend tier 110 may include a server for manufacturing the physical products and shipping the physical products. The manufacturing server may control a production system that produces the physical products. For example, the manufacturing system connects to a production facility that produces footwear. The backend tier 110 may be implemented with a processor that handles calculations for receiving user requests to customize physical products, purchase physical products, customize digital assets, and purchase digital assets. As another example, the backend tier 110 may communicate with a retail server that may control a retail system, including an order and inventory management system that manages or sells physical products. For example, the retail system may be either an online retailer or a traditional brick-and-mortar retailer that sells footwear.

[0027] The backend tier 110 may provide access to and manage physical products in a physical inventory 112, which may be implemented, for example, as a website through which user devices 122A-B may interact to select, customize, and / or purchase physical products. Similarly, the backend tier 110 may provide access to and manage digital assets in a digital asset marketplace 114, which may also be implemented, for example, as a website through which user devices 122A-B may interact to select, customize, and / or purchase digital products. In one embodiment, the backend tier 110 may provide a unified interface for connecting to both the physical inventory 112 and the digital asset marketplace 114.

[0028] The digital activation layer 118 may connect the backend layer 110 to the user devices 122A-B via a distributed ledger component that facilitates communication using information stored in the distributed ledger. The information in the distributed ledger may be implemented as a blockchain network, including a semi-private blockchain network or a private blockchain network. All blockchain networks utilize some sort of consensus protocol, whether public, private, or semi-private as described further below. In practice, the protocols differ due to the different ways in which each network handles users. Another common characteristic of blockchain networks is that each node maintains a copy of a write-only ledger of transactions that occur within the network and synchronizes the copies using a consensus protocol.

[0029] However, these blockchain networks have differences that give different advantages to the digital activation layer 118. For example, a public blockchain network is accessible to any user without the need for permission (e.g., credentials). This allows a larger number of users to participate in the network. Public blockchain networks may use proof of work or proof of stake as a consensus protocol to provide consensus on the information stored in the blockchain. To achieve consensus, each user (or node) in a public blockchain network may be required to solve a complex problem (i.e., proof of work) or to "stake" their tokens as collateral to participate in the blockchain. Once a node in the network provides proof of work (e.g., solving a math quiz) or provides proof of stake, the node is allowed to confirm a recent block of transactions on the blockchain and broadcast that block to all other nodes in the network for storage in the other nodes' copies of the blockchain.

[0030] A private, or permissioned, blockchain network is one that may be controlled by a single entity, such as a company, that typically determines who can participate in the blockchain, validate transactions, and view information recorded on the blockchain. Users who want to join a private network must first be authorized to do so based on an access control mechanism implemented by the controlling entity. Examples of such mechanisms include allowing existing nodes to offer invitations, or a dedicated pool of nodes authorized to issue invitations. Also, user actions within the network, such as the types of transactions users can issue, may be constrained by rules implemented by the controlling entity. When implemented with a private blockchain network, the digital activation layer 118 is enabled to keep certain information (e.g., each user's credit card information) private and secure. Unlike public blockchain networks, which may provide a robust application ecosystem due to their unconstrained nature, private blockchain networks may be regulated with respect to how the private blockchain may be used and accessed. In addition, the entity controlling the private blockchain network may require users to provide identification information, assign privileges to users, and other functions more similar to enterprise applications. Due to their smaller user footprint, private blockchain networks may use different consensus protocols than public blockchain networks. For example, private blockchains may assign the responsibility of authorizing transactions to a dedicated group of nodes in the network. Such consensus allows for faster transaction approval.

[0031] A semi-private, or hybrid, blockchain network uses both public and private blockchain networks, allowing an entity (such as a business) implementing the hybrid blockchain to leverage features from both that benefit the particular application being supported. For example, an entity can protect background transactions between users and the entity (e.g., purchases of physical and digital assets) while sharing information about the assets with the users via a distributed ledger. In other words, the public blockchain network may be customer-facing, while the private blockchain network may be used to process transactions in a manner that is not visible to users of the public blockchain network.

[0032] When implemented with a semi-private blockchain network, the digital activation layer 118 may provide a customer-facing blockchain network and an enterprise-facing blockchain network. The customer-facing blockchain network may be for interacting with the backend layer 110, including accessing and purchasing physical products, accessing and purchasing digital assets, and verifying ownership of both physical and digital assets, to name a few. The enterprise-facing blockchain network may provide a backbone for processing transactions, storing transaction and user related information in a distributed ledger, and generating digital assets, to name a few. In one embodiment, the digital activation layer 118 may implement a distributed ledger as a semi-private blockchain network.

[0033] In another embodiment, the distributed ledger may be implemented using a main blockchain and a side chain. A side chain is a blockchain that is separate from and operates in parallel with the main blockchain. Digital assets may be obtained from the main blockchain, utilized within the side chain, and then transferred back to the main blockchain. For example, digital assets may be generated or created on the side chain and moved to the main blockchain as needed. In some embodiments, the side chain is connected to the main blockchain via a bidirectional link that allows digital assets to be passed between the side chain and the main blockchain. The side chain may implement its own set of rules, functions, consensus algorithms, all of which are different from those of the main blockchain for certain purposes. Digital assets may be generated and implemented on the main blockchain for transactions. After the digital assets are available (e.g., after a transaction), they may be moved to one or more connected side chains, where they may be processed according to the rules or policies of that side chain. In one embodiment, the mixed blockchain network may be implemented as a main public blockchain and a separate private side chain. There may be separate side chains for different functions implemented by the enterprise. For example, the digital activation layer 118 may implement a side chain for processing digital asset transactions, a side chain for processing membership transactions involving digital assets, a side chain for processing digital assets within external systems (e.g., video games, social media), and a side chain for processing transactions that process physical product transactions involving digital assets. Side chains allow for more efficient processing of transactions and allow new functionality to be added to the main blockchain without interrupting the functionality of the main blockchain.

[0034] In some embodiments, regardless of how the distributed ledger is implemented (private, public, semi-private), data in the distributed ledger may be indexed to facilitate identification of ownership. The digital activation layer 118 may index data in the distributed ledger to allow data in the ledger to be more easily queried. In some embodiments, indexing the data may include utilizing one or more interfaces that represent different portions of the data stored in the distributed ledger. Querying of data on the distributed ledger may be handled by a respective interface that describes the queried data. The interface may then retrieve the queried data from the ledger, which may include more quickly identifying a specific moment in time related to a user of a digital asset or ownership of a digital asset. In some embodiments, an interface includes a list of data that the interface is responsible for and exposed functions that define how to query the interface for the data. The interface thereby allows data on the blockchain to be queried efficiently. One example of the use of an interface is the ability to query a timeline for specific events of ownership of a digital asset. Such "snapshot" moments of ownership may be obtained via queries and utilized to further customize digital assets and user interactions.

[0035] In some embodiments, the distributed ledger may utilize still other methods to ensure user privacy involving transactions. As one example, the distributed ledger may be implemented using zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive arguments of knowledge, or "zk-SNARKs," which are protocols that can be used to verify that a statement is true, such as, for example, that the amount of funds in a user account meets a monetary threshold for a transaction, without revealing the exact amount that is in the user account. Thus, the distributed ledger can verify that a user has sufficient funds to proceed with a transaction without the user having to provide the exact amount that is in their user account.

[0036] Creating digital assets Regardless of what type of distributed ledger is utilized to store and manage transactions and user information, the digital activation layer 118 utilizes the information stored in the distributed ledger to provide trusted interactions, including transactions involving digital assets and physical products, between users of the distributed asset system 100 and across different platforms of an enterprise. As an example, a transaction may include creating a digital asset based on a real-world physical equivalent (i.e., a physical product). For example, the digital activation layer 118 may create a digital article of clothing, such as the digital asset 120, based on a corresponding real-world physical item of wear, such as the physical product 116. The digital activation layer 118 may create the digital asset 120 based on physical or commercial attributes of the physical product 116. Non-limiting examples of physical attributes include the dimensions, color scheme, and size of the physical product 116. As another non-limiting example, the digital asset may include an image generated based on the physical attributes of the physical product.

[0037] Non-limiting examples of commercial attributes include country of origin, identity of manufacturing facility, date of manufacture, date of shipment, shipment path from manufacturing facility to retailer, number of corresponding physical products produced, number of sales, number of pre-orders, and number of mentions (e.g., hashtags) detected on social media, and usage of the physical product in the real world (e.g., by celebrities at basketball games or the Olympics). It is important to note that while a digital asset 120 may correspond to a physical product 116 in a one-to-one relationship (i.e., there is one NFT for a particular shoe owned by one customer), there may be several related physical products to the physical product 116 (i.e., there may be 1,000 pairs of shoes produced for a particular model of shoe). Thus, commercial attributes in this description refer to the related physical product, not just the physical product 116.

[0038] Digital assets may be generated based on one or more of the commercial attributes based on an algorithm implemented by the distributed ledger. For example, certain commercial attributes such as country of origin, manufacturing facility identifier, date of manufacture, date of shipment, and shipment route may be used in generating a digital asset that captures the provenance of the physical product 116. In another example, a digital asset may represent the commercial usage of the physical product, such as the number of units manufactured (i.e., scarcity), number of sales, and / or number of social media mentions of the physical product.

[0039] In one embodiment, the digital activation layer 118 may create the digital asset 120 using one or more of the above-mentioned physical and commercial attributes based on a generation algorithm that takes any of the selected physical and commercial attributes and outputs the digital asset 120, which may include one or more digital images representing the physical product 116, provenance information for the physical product 116, and an ongoing transaction log for the digital asset 120. The digital asset 120, along with all pertinent information, may be stored in a block on the blockchain network.

[0040] In some embodiments, the digital asset 120 is a non-fungible token ("NFT") that is a digital asset. Because it is generated using a blockchain network, the uniqueness of the digital asset is guaranteed. The NFT allows for the tokenization of physical products and is secured by the blockchain network. In some embodiments, the NFT also tokenizes memberships, such as data related to rewards membership programs and purchase membership programs, to name a few. A physical product with multiple production units (e.g., shoes) may have a unique NFT for each production unit, which represents the unique commercial attributes of each physical product 116.

[0041] The properties of digital assets as described above may be regulated by code on a blockchain network. Examples of code include smart contracts (Ethereum network), which allow various operations on digital assets, such as issuing royalties and other payments and transactions. In one embodiment, digital assets may be created using an NFT algorithm similar to the ERC-721 standard used within the Ethereum network.

[0042] Through these various means, the distributed ledger of the digital activation layer 118 not only tracks ownership of the digital assets 116 and the physical products 120, but also links ownership of the digital assets 116 to ownership of the physical products 120 on blocks of the blockchain. Thus, the digital assets 116 may represent, in part, a tokenized claim of ownership to the physical products 120, as well as other characteristics of the physical products 120, such as the physical and commercial attributes described above. There may be automated means on the distributed ledger for obtaining information about the digital assets 116 and the physical products 120 from various systems of the digital asset system 100 and aggregating the obtained information into blocks of the distributed ledger.

[0043] In some embodiments, using commercial attributes as part of generating the digital assets 116 also allows for dynamic updates of the digital assets 116. For example, certain commercial attributes change in real time, such as the number of sales of the related physical products including the physical product 120, the number of pre-orders of the related physical products including the physical product 120, the number of mentions (e.g., hashtags) of the related physical products including the physical product 120 detected on social media, and the usage of the related physical products including the physical product 120 in the real world (e.g., celebrities being photographed wearing them at basketball games or the Olympics). Each time such attributes are updated (e.g., the number of social media mentions increases), the digital assets (including the digital assets 116) associated with the related physical products (including the physical product 120) may be updated to reflect the new attributes. In other embodiments, the nature of the digital assets 116 is fixed and cannot be updated.

[0044] Updating digital assets allows them to reflect changes in the real world, thus increasing the value and usefulness of the digital assets to their owners. Such digital asset updates also increase the scarcity of each asset as they are updated in real time. In one embodiment, digital asset updates may be implemented using smart contracts stored on the blockchain of the digital activation layer 118. In other words, the digital activation layer 118 collects real-world data, such as commercial attributes related to the relevant physical product, and sends the data to blocks that store linked digital assets and utilize smart contracts on those blocks to analyze the data and update the digital assets.

[0045] In one embodiment, updating a digital asset includes changing one or more visual characteristics of the digital asset. In one embodiment, when initially generated, the digital asset 120 may be a multi-dimensional (e.g., 2D or 3D) digital representation of the physical product 116. As the digital asset 120 is updated based on changes to commercial attributes of the associated physical product, the visual characteristics of the digital representation may evolve to reflect those changes. For example, there may be visual characteristics representing the popularity of a shoe on a social media platform (e.g., a counter representing the number of mentions, an image of the physical product being used by a celebrity or in a basketball game). The digital activation layer 118 may be configured to connect to specific sources to obtain the commercial attributes, including website aggregator programs and specific social media websites that detect the associated physical product and allow corresponding real-world data to be obtained.

[0046] In other embodiments, commercial attributes may unlock visual characteristics. For example, a certain number of social media mentions may trigger a new color scheme or a new logo for the digital asset. The digital activation layer 118 may implement a hierarchical approach to lock visual characteristics behind the owners of the involved physical products, commercial achievements by one or more of the owners of the particular physical products 116, or the sales of the involved physical products and the popularity of the involved physical products. As an example, the digital activation layer 118 may obtain the social media behavior of all owners of the involved physical products (e.g., the same model of shoes). This information may be obtained dynamically through the connections the digital activation layer 118 has with external systems and with information already stored in the distributed ledger associated with the digital assets owned by the owners. Once the digital activation layer 118 determines that the total number of posts or other social media actions by those owners has reached a certain threshold, the digital activation layer 118 may unlock the visual characteristics of the digital asset for each user and update the digital asset. As another example, a user may link their physical behavior (e.g., steps, heart rate) tracked via a personal fitness device (e.g., a smart watch) within the physical product 116 to visual characteristics of a digital asset. As the physical product 116 is used more, a corresponding change in the digital representation of the digital asset may occur (e.g., the digital representation may be updated to show wear that reflects use of the physical product 116).

[0047] In further embodiments, the digital activation layer 118 may interface with a manufacturing or shipping facility to manufacture corresponding changes to the associated physical product. For example, when the digital activation layer 118 releases a new color scheme for a digital asset, the digital activation layer 118 may further send the color scheme to a manufacturing facility for producing updates to the associated physical product in the new color scheme.

[0048] Digital Asset Market The digital activation layer 118 may further provide access to and manage a digital asset marketplace 114 where digital assets may be customized, purchased, or traded between users of the digital asset system 100. For example, the digital activation layer 118 may provide a mechanism by which digital assets may be purchased. In some embodiments, digital assets may be purchased directly using digital currency (e.g., based on a blockchain) or real-world currency (e.g., fiat), and in some embodiments, ownership of a digital asset may be linked to a physical product, where purchasing a physical product may automatically result in ownership of the digital ownership, or vice versa, where purchasing a digital asset may automatically result in ownership of a physical product. The digital activation layer 118 may provide a mechanism by which digital assets may be sold or traded between users of the digital asset system 100.

[0049] The digital activation layer 118 may coordinate the distribution of digital assets based on when a physical product is released or purchased, for example, via push or pull actions from user devices 122A-B. In one embodiment, the digital asset system 100 interfaces with a manufacturing facility that produces the corresponding physical product to which the digital assets are synchronized. In one embodiment, the release or purchase of a physical product 116 results in the associated digital asset being available for sale or trade via the digital asset marketplace 114.

[0050] In one embodiment, the digital activation layer 118 also stores user profiles in corresponding blocks of the distributed ledger, where each block may be associated with each user of the digital asset system 100. The user profile may store any kind of information related to the user, such as owned physical products and digital assets, social media information, user actions within the digital asset system 100, and user actions outside of the digital asset system 100. The user profile may be implemented as part of a social media network, where users can customize the physical products and digital assets that are displayed to other users. In one embodiment, the user profile may be implemented as a virtual storefront, where users can buy, trade, or sell digital assets to and from other users via their own devices, such as user devices 104 and 108. Digital assets include not only virtual representations of physical products, such as virtual and physical shoes, but also components of digital assets, in the case where the digital assets are implemented as a combination of different assets. As one non-limiting example in which the physical product is a shoe and the digital asset is a digital representation of the shoe, the digital asset may be implemented as a combination of components that represent a shoe, such as a sole, upper, tongue, eyelets, laces, materials, shape, color, and style.

[0051] User Device In one embodiment, user devices 122A-B may each include a processor and a storage device. User devices 122A-B may communicate with each other and with digital activation layer 118 using wired or wireless connections. For example, user device 122A may communicate with user device 122B over a cellular network or directly based on a wireless protocol, including Bluetooth, WiFi, any machine-to-machine (M2M) protocol, or Internet of Things (IoT) protocol.

[0052] Each of the user devices 122A-B may be connected to a physical product 116. The physical product 116 may be capable of transmitting wireless signals to the user devices 122A-B. For example, the physical product 116 may be fitted with a wireless chip based on Bluetooth, WiFi, and RFID, and as another example, the physical product 116 may include an identifier (e.g., a QR code) that can be scanned by the user devices 122A-B, which connects the user devices 122A-B to specific information stored in the digital activation layer 118. The user devices 122A-B may communicate directly with the backend layer 110, such as through receiving a shipping notification when the physical product 116 is shipped.

[0053] Example implementation of the Digital Activation Layer FIG. 2A is a block diagram of an activation architecture 200A including various components for processing digital and physical products, according to some embodiments.

[0054] Activation architecture 200A includes an enterprise network 205, an external system 220, and any number of user devices, including user devices 240A-D. In one embodiment, activation architecture 200A may represent a metaverse in which digital assets may be utilized both within enterprise network 205 and external system 220. Enterprise network 205 includes backend tier 210 and digital activation tier 230A.

[0055] In one embodiment, backend tier 210 may correspond to backend tier 110 and thus includes the associated features and functionality of backend tier 110 described above. Backend tier 210 may further include a production subsystem 212, a shipping subsystem 214, and a purchasing subsystem 216.

[0056] The production subsystem 212 may include components for connecting to a manufacturing system that produces a physical product. The digital activation layer 230A utilizes information stored in the distributed ledger 231A to provide a novel designer-manufacturer process based on digital assets and user information. In one embodiment, the production subsystem 212 may signal the manufacturing system to produce a physical product based on one or more of the digital assets, user interactions with the digital assets, commercial attributes of the physical product, and other user information.

[0057] The shipping subsystem 214 may include components for connecting to a shipping system that ships a physical product to a user associated with the user device. The shipping subsystem may be configured to receive a signal from the digital activation layer 230A to initiate a shipping procedure related to the physical product.

[0058] The purchasing subsystem 216 may include components for facilitating and managing the purchase of digital and physical products. In some embodiments, the purchasing subsystem 216 may manage and provide access to the physical inventory 112 and the digital asset marketplace 114. In one embodiment, the purchasing subsystem 216, in combination with the distributed ledger 231A, may provide access to digital currency for use in transactions involving digital and physical products. The digital currency may be implemented using blockchain technology in the distributed ledger 231A, including smart contracts and tokens. When implemented in the distributed ledger 231A, smart contracts function as code that can be executed in a distributed manner across different nodes in the distributed ledger 231A.

[0059] In one embodiment, the smart contract of the distributed ledger 231A also includes state that tracks the progress of the smart contract as it is executed. The smart contract may be executed automatically when requirements related to the digital assets are met. As a non-limiting example, the smart contract is a contract between a shoe manufacturer and its customers. The shoe manufacturer may be responsible for deploying the distributed ledger and controlling which customers have access to the distributed ledger. The smart contract may specify that a particular product or service (e.g., a digital asset, a physical product, early access to a digital asset or a physical product) may be made available to a customer based on certain conditions when performed by the customer. Examples of such conditions include performing a particular action with a digital or physical product, such as posting about a physical product or reaching a milestone in terms of number of followers or posts, or performing an action using one's user device, such as checking into a physical store during a promotional period.

[0060] In one embodiment, the digital activation layer 230A can distribute tokens to user devices based on the execution of smart contracts. The tokens can then be redeemed within the digital asset system 100 as payment for products or services within the digital asset system 100. The tokens can be stored in a user's digital wallet. As an example, the tokens can be used to purchase digital or physical products via the user devices 240A-D. In one embodiment, the tokens can be used to purchase physical products at a physical store that is affiliated with the token provider (e.g., a shoe manufacturer). In this embodiment, the physical store can interact with the digital activation layer 230A to track and update a user profile based on user actions within the physical store.

[0061] In one embodiment, smart contracts in digital activation layer 230A may include adjustment factors in the smart contract that adjust the number of tokens awarded as rewards. These adjustment factors may be based on hierarchical thresholds related to the conditions for executing the smart contract. For example, the number of tokens may be increased or decreased by a certain percentage based on the tier, such as 4 tokens for visiting 3 physical stores, 5 tokens for visiting 4 physical stores, etc.

[0062] Smart contracts and tokens may be utilized to recombine or customize digital assets. Tokens may be required to generate customized versions of two or more digital assets through execution of smart contracts. Smart contracts use two or more digital assets to create new digital assets that may include various components of each of the two or more digital assets. In one embodiment, the smart contract provides code to take specific components (e.g., color scheme, style) from each digital asset and combine them to form a new digital asset. The new digital asset and customization details are stored on the blockchain of the distributed ledger 231A. The smart contract may include specific components of each digital asset and specify how the components interact with each other when combined into a digital asset. For example, in an embodiment involving implementing a digital asset as a digital shoe, the smart contract may specify that a particular type of eyelet is incorporated differently based on the overall style of the shoe (high-top, boot, mid-rise, low-top, etc.). A smart contract may specify that high-top shoes include one number of eyelets and boots include another number of eyelets, and when the smart contract is executed by digital activation layer 230A, a digital asset corresponding to high-top shoes having a different number of eyelets than a digital asset for boots is generated. In this manner, the smart contract may contain information that determines the appearance of the digital asset based on a particular combination of various components. The use of smart contracts and blockchain may enable digital activation layer 230A to prove the uniqueness of each digital asset generated.

[0063] In embodiments where a digital asset is generated based on components from other digital assets, the approach to combining the components may be based on a separate smart contract that defines the specific steps at which components are selected from each component, how they are combined, and other factors to consider in forming a unique digital asset. In one embodiment, to increase the uniqueness of each generated digital asset, the smart contract may specify additional factors in addition to the digital asset components used as part of generating each digital asset. Examples of such additional factors include user-specific information such as the user's shoe size, the user's physical characteristics (e.g., provided by the user), tracking information available to the digital activation layer 230A such as the user's purchase information, the user's geolocation history, or the user's actual usage of a particular physical product (e.g., walking data, physical activity data), commercial attributes of the physical product including social media information such as trends and other usage metrics indicating a popularity score by the user's community.

[0064] In one embodiment, each generated digital asset is associated with its own smart contract that specifies the appearance, components, and other elements that are part of the digital asset. Because the smart contract and its associated information are stored on the blockchain, the digital activation layer 230A can prove the uniqueness of each digital asset and also provide a secure method for moving digital assets between users. In one embodiment, the digital activation layer 230A can communicate the generated digital assets to the production subsystem 212 to produce the corresponding physical product. The smart contract in the digital activation layer 230A can set conditions on when the generated digital assets are communicated to the production subsystem 212. For example, a particular user may have an elevated membership status that grants the user privileges such as access to the production subsystem 212 that can produce the corresponding physical product. The membership status may be tied to the user's actions within the enterprise, such as the amount of digital assets the user has interacted with (e.g., purchased, created, burned, traded, etc.), social media behavior, and other actions involving the digital assets. The user's digital wallet, which records this activity, may be used as a digital passport or “VIP” card for the user to gain access to components of the enterprise, such as production subsystem 212 .

[0065] In one embodiment, a child digital asset may be generated from a single digital asset (i.e., without the need for two separate digital assets). The metadata of the digital asset may be used to generate another digital asset based on one or more attributes of the parent. For example, the digital activation layer 230A may utilize a digital asset with a particular pattern or color to generate a related digital asset having the same pattern or color but a different style of product. For example, a digital asset may relate to shoes, but the child digital asset may be another type of clothing item, such as a shirt, hat, or backpack, but having one or more of the same physical characteristics of the digital asset.

[0066] In one embodiment, digital activation layer 230A may correspond to digital activation layer 118 and thus may include the relevant features and functionality of digital activation layer 118 described above. Digital activation layer 230A may further include a distributed ledger 231A, a membership subsystem 232, a digital wallet manager 233, an authentication module 234, and a marketplace subsystem 235.

[0067] The distributed ledger 231A may be implemented as a blockchain network that stores data collected and processed by the enterprise network 205 on the blockchain. The distributed ledger 231A may leverage some of the capabilities of the blockchain to process digital and physical products as described herein. For example, the distributed ledger 231A may utilize smart contracts that automatically trigger certain actions based on different interactions with the digital assets. One type of smart contract may allow a certain percentage of the sale of a digital asset to be provided to the enterprise whenever the digital asset is moved between users of the enterprise network 205 of that enterprise. The use of smart contracts to track and maintain actions related to the digital asset allows the entire process to be automated. In an embodiment where the digital asset is deployed within a corporate rewards membership scheme, the use of smart contracts allows the rewards membership scheme to be automated without the need for the enterprise or users to track points and issue loyalty cards or other traditional mechanisms currently used in current rewards programs. In such an embodiment, information related to each rewards member may be tokenized and stored on the blockchain. Actions related to a membership profile, such as redeeming rewards or awarding points, can be automated via smart contracts stored on the blockchain.

[0068] The distributed ledger 231A may facilitate secure connectivity between the enterprise network 205, including legacy systems such as the backend tier 210, and external systems 220 as well as other users. For example, the distributed ledger may utilize a main blockchain / side chain structure to store and process digital assets. The side chain allows processing to occur separately from the main blockchain, which has several advantages including reducing the processing load on the main blockchain and testing new features and functionality on the side chain before being implemented on the main blockchain. The side chain allows digital assets to be moved from the main blockchain for use in other systems, such as from the enterprise network 205 to the external systems 220.

[0069] The membership subsystem 232 may include components for managing functionality related to membership programs within the enterprise network 205. In some embodiments, the membership subsystem 232 may track user interactions across the enterprise ecosystem. For example, an enterprise may be comprised of traditional brick-and-mortar (i.e., physical) stores, digital marketplaces for NFTs, digital marketplaces for physical products, and inter-enterprise partnerships with other enterprises. Examples of interactions include purchases at physical and digital stores, social media interactions, and actions taken at other affiliated enterprises. The membership subsystem 232 may automatically update a user's membership or loyalty profile (e.g., update points) based on the user's actions across all of these platforms, thereby reducing friction regarding redemption and loyalty program management.

[0070] The membership subsystem 232 may also be used as part of authenticating users in the system and identifying possible bot behavior. For example, the digital activation layer 230 may require a threshold number of interactions to determine if a user is a real person or a bot. The membership subsystem 232 may track each member's interactions in the system, such as buying, trading, burning digital assets, or any other actions with the digital activation layer 230A. Once a threshold level of behavior is tracked by the membership subsystem 232, the digital activation layer 230A may provide the user access to the backend layer 210, where they may interact with the subsystem to produce a physical product. This access may include allowing commands to be sent to the backend layer 210 to expedite or delay production of a physical product by the production subsystem 212.

[0071] The digital activation layer 230A may also track user behavior in external systems 220, such as the gamification component 222 and social media 224. The digital activation layer 230A may require a threshold amount of behavior by the user in the external systems 220 before additional access to additional services, such as the backend layer 210 and the production subsystems 212, is granted.

[0072] The digital wallet manager 233 may include components for managing digital wallets associated with each user. In some embodiments, the digital wallet manager may generate and / or manage a digital wallet for each user that tracks the user's actions across all platforms connected to the digital activation layer 230A. In some embodiments, the digital wallet manager 233 exposes the user's digital wallet to the digital activation layer 230A, including user information that may be used to track user interactions or to make decisions regarding the user's access to services provided by the digital activation layer 230A. The digital wallet may store available user information resulting from transactions occurring on the blockchain. In some embodiments, the digital wallet may be considered as a digital storage component that includes a central interface for managing multiple different payment instruments, which may be considered as instruments that facilitate the transfer of money or monetary value. There may be different classes of payment instruments, including credit cards and blockchain-based currencies. Implemented as a digital storage component, the digital wallet allows for the storage of different information related to each of the different payment instruments, and the user may access and utilize each payment instrument by interacting with an interface provided by the digital wallet. In some embodiments, the digital wallet may be authorized by an enterprise managing the digital activation layer 230A, providing administrative privileges to each user who is given access to the digital activation layer 230A.

[0073] The authentication module 234 may include components for authenticating users to join and sign into the distributed ledger 231A and to secure wallets associated with each user. In some embodiments, the authentication module 234 may connect to an external authentication provider, such as a provider that offers two-factor authentication, to authenticate users.

[0074] The digital asset subsystem 235 may include components for managing and customizing digital assets. As an example of digital asset management, the digital asset subsystem 235 may record information regarding the ownership and use of digital assets. For example, digital assets may be sold and resold by multiple users, and the digital asset subsystem 235 may record the names of the current and all past owners of the digital asset. Additional information, such as the geolocation history of a corresponding physical product, may also be tracked and stored. The digital asset system 100 may store the geolocation of a physical product provided by a user device, such as user devices 240A-D, which may send notifications of use of the physical product.

[0075] In one embodiment, the digital asset subsystem 235 enables customization of digital assets. For example, a digital asset that may be implemented as representing a physical product may be customized based on the physical and commercial attributes of the physical product. Customization may be provided through the combined functionality of the digital asset subsystem 235 and the distributed ledger 231A, where the latter may retrieve the physical and commercial attributes stored in the distributed ledger 231A and / or retrieve them in real time from other sources. The digital asset subsystem 235 provides access to interactions available to users. In one embodiment, interactions such as customization of a digital asset, access to various components of a digital asset, and access to a marketplace for buying, trading, and selling components may be gated behind certain user actions that, when performed by a user, release the interactions and make them available to the user. As a non-limiting example, user actions may include purchasing a physical product and purchasing a physical product within a certain period of time from the release of the physical product.

[0076] The digital asset subsystem 235 may track user behavior and location history as a basis for accessing digital assets, such as using applications installed on user devices such as user devices 240A-D. Examples of tracked behavior include checking a user device into a clothing store's grand opening event, tracking a particular purchase (such as a threshold number of purchases), tracking a user's actions within the digital asset system 100 to reach certain milestones, such as buying and trading a certain number of digital assets, reaching a certain user level, or other measurable or trackable behavior correlating a user to their use of digital assets.

[0077] An exemplary discussion of this customization mode of the application for making changes to digital assets is now provided. In one embodiment, the digital asset subsystem 235 may receive a request to generate or recombine a new digital asset based on two or more digital assets. Recombining may include combining components of two or more digital assets to create a new combination of components that forms a new digital asset. The digital asset subsystem 235 may randomly perform the combination based on user preferences, based on popularity of the components (popularity is based on any metric that measures the use of the components by users), based on input or preferences from an external system such as a manufacturing facility (input and preferences may be from a designer of a clothing company), or a retail server (input and preferences may be from a retailer and / or its customers). In one embodiment, the digital asset subsystem 235 may implement these mechanisms as various recombination modes selectable via the application. For example, random combination may be implemented as a random recombination mode, in which the digital asset subsystem system 235 may select random digital asset components from either of the two digital assets to form a new digital asset. As another example, the digital asset subsystem 235 may provide a popularity recombination mode, which results in selecting digital asset components based on popularity, which may be determined by the number of social media mentions, the number of physical product purchases, and / or the market price of the digital asset component.

[0078] In one embodiment, new digital assets may be generated (e.g., for digital asset drops) using artificial intelligence (AI), such as machine learning algorithms that cross-reference metrics associated with a physical product to generate customized digital assets based on real-world sales and usage. For example, the digital asset subsystem 235 may have access to metrics such as sales and social media presence of the physical product via the distributed ledger 231A. Based on the metrics, the digital asset subsystem 235 may train a model to identify the physical product and / or its particular components (e.g., sole, upper, tongue, eyelets, style, color) based on popularity and to identify components that share similarity with the identified popular components. In one embodiment, the trained model may be used to determine a value for the particular components that reflects the contribution of each component to the popularity of the physical product. In some embodiments, this determination is based on a game theory analysis to calculate how a factor contributes to an overall result. In this embodiment, if the digital asset is implemented as a digital shoe and the physical product includes a physical shoe, each component, e.g., tongue, eyelets, laces, color, style, sole, design marks, may be analyzed by the trained model, and the model may assign a value to each component based on usage metrics associated with the physical product. The model may evaluate the more popular shoes (based on sales and / or mentions on social media platforms) to determine whether each component of each of those shoes contributed to the popularity. For example, the model may determine that the more popular shoes share common components, such as design marks or a particular style, and calculate a unique value for each component. The contribution values ​​may be used to rank the importance of the components, which may then be utilized in determining which components should be provided as part of generating a new digital asset.In some embodiments, the trained model can take information available on the blockchain across different sources within the enterprise, such as the production subsystem 212 (which may track production metrics), the shipping subsystem 214 (which may track shipping metrics), and the purchasing subsystem 216 (which may track user metrics), and identify digital assets for use in the generation of new digital assets based on popularity.

[0079] Also, a value reflecting the popularity of the digital asset may be calculated for the digital components of the digital asset and / or the value may be expanded to reflect its popularity with respect to any physical product. For example, a trained machine learning model may be used to track the popularity of the physical product in combination with the popularity and / or use of the corresponding digital asset through the digital asset system. The trained machine learning model may then correlate the popularity of the digital asset with the physical product based on historical tracking data from other physical products and digital assets to determine whether the digital asset contributed to the sales of the physical product. For example, the trained machine learning model may correlate usage (e.g., behavior and / or social media behavior) associated with the digital asset with usage (e.g., sales data and social media activity) of the physical product. The trained machine learning model may then assign a contribution value to the digital asset based on certain attributes of the digital asset. The contribution value may be used to rank the importance of the digital asset. The contribution value of the digital asset may be calculated using the trained machine learning model, which may be continuously updated based on the physical and commercial attributes of the physical product and the performance of the digital asset within the digital asset system 100.

[0080] In one embodiment, the difficulty of obtaining (or scarcity) of a digital asset can be tied to the contribution value. Specifically, digital assets are distributed through the digital asset system 100 through various channels, such as directly to each user device, or through promotions tied to physical products, or through scheduled events or digital asset drops. The difficulty of obtaining may refer to the likelihood that each digital asset will be distributed through those channels and / or the number of digital assets that will be generated. Thus, some digital assets may be rarer than others, thereby increasing their value within the digital asset system 100. The contribution value may be used to determine the likelihood of distributing the digital asset. For example, the digital asset system 100 may lower the likelihood of distribution of digital assets or components with higher contribution values ​​indicating popularity to maintain the popularity of the components.

[0081] The digital asset subsystem 235 may also operate in combination with the purchasing subsystem 216 to provide access to a digital asset marketplace (e.g., the digital asset marketplace 114). In one embodiment, the digital asset marketplace may allow digital assets to be exchanged between users through interactions to communicate or share digital assets with each other via each user's user device. In one embodiment, the digital asset subsystem 235 may provide a common view of available digital assets to all users. In another embodiment, trained machine learning models may tailor the view of available digital assets for each user based on the user's usage behavior (e.g., purchases, past asset customizations, market actions to sell or trade assets).

[0082] The digital asset subsystem 235 may also serve as a mechanism for users to display their collection of digital assets that can be viewed and accessed by other users. This mechanism may allow digital assets and components to be purchased (if enabled for sale) or voted for by other users of the digital asset system 100. The views or votes of the digital assets may be used by the trained machine learning models to calculate a popularity rating for each digital asset. Other interactions with the digital assets and components may be linked to the votes. For example, digital asset components with more than a certain number of views or votes may be bought, sold, and traded via the marketplace. As another example, the initial price of a digital asset component created by a user may depend on the number of views or votes received.

[0083] The external system 220 includes a gamification component 222 and a social media component 224. The gamification component 222 may connect to an external video game system to utilize the digital assets. The digital activation layer 230A may connect to the gamification component 222 and provide information via a distributed ledger 231A. Through this connection, the digital activation layer 230A may import the digital assets into the video game being played by the owner of the digital assets and provided by the gamification component 222. As an example, a user's digital assets may be implemented as digital clothing that may be utilized in adjusting the appearance and performance of a digital avatar within the video game. In a game in which a player is represented by an avatar, the digital assets may be used to adjust the player's capabilities within the video game by changing various statistics of the player. For example, an avatar may be associated with certain statistics, such as strength, speed, or accuracy, and certain digital assets may increase or decrease those statistics. If the digital asset is implemented as a digital shoe, the digital asset may have a particular speed characteristic that, when imported into the digital avatar, increases the digital avatar's speed in a video game. Other examples of improvements provided by digital assets include allowing a character to receive a boost and therefore jump higher, move faster, receive continuous healing, block a certain amount of damage, or deal with an increased amount of damage. The gamification component 222 may include a burn requirement, where a digital asset may be staked or offered as collateral in a game in exchange for participating in the game or receiving additional rewards. A trigger condition, such as a loss in the game, may cause the digital asset to be burned or sent to a burn address. This requirement increases the difficulty of obtaining the digital asset.

[0084] Staking or providing digital assets as collateral is not limited to the gamification component 222. For example, the digital activation layer 230A may require digital assets to be staked, such as for a physical product to be produced by the production subsystem 212 and for the digital activation layer 230A to communicate with the backend layer 210 as part of requesting that the physical product be shipped by the shipping subsystem 214. The digital activation layer 230A may release the staked digital assets after the transaction is completed.

[0085] The use of the distributed ledger 231A to connect the enterprise network 205 and the external system 220 provides advantages over conventional systems. The distributed ledger 231A may utilize side chains and smart contracts to establish connections with the external system 220 and provide attributes of digital assets to the gamification component 222 for implementation within the video game. The distributed ledger 231A may utilize side chains implemented specifically to interact with the gamification component 222, thereby reducing the processing load on the main blockchain and allowing for independent security mechanisms agreed upon by the enterprise network 205 and the gamification component 222. This allows the side chain to implement connections that may differ from the main blockchain. If there are multiple gamification components with different security requirements to connect to their respective video games, this allows the distributed ledger 231A to utilize side chains with different security mechanisms to each of the gamification components.

[0086] In one embodiment, the properties of a digital asset may be specified in a smart contract implemented in digital asset system 100. Each digital asset may be unique within digital asset system 100, and its appearance and properties may be stored on the blockchain via a smart contract. When implemented in this manner, each digital asset and its properties may be proven to be unique and owned by a particular user.

[0087] The social media component 224 may connect to external social media websites. In one embodiment, the social media component 224 may connect to third party systems, such as third party social media providers. Digital assets and tokens provided within the digital asset system 100 may be imported into third party applications via the external system 220. Synchronizing digital assets and tokens with application providers extends the utility of their functionality beyond use within the digital asset system 100. The social media component 224 may establish a bidirectional connection to the enterprise network 205 via the distributed ledger 231A. The social media component 224 may provide information about the digital assets for storage in the distributed ledger 231A. For example, the social media component 224 may use text or image recognition to identify social media posts that mention physical products and determine whether the identified physical products are associated with any digital assets. The social media component 224 may further include functionality for generating metrics for the identified physical products, such as tracking the number of social media posts and generating a timeline of social media posts.

[0088] In one embodiment, the digital asset system 100 may convert digital assets into other digital items for incorporation into third party applications. For example, in a third party video game, the digital assets may be converted into items that can be used in the video game. In other applications, such as social media applications that include an image of a user, the digital assets may be used to digitally alter the image to include the digital assets. For example, an image that includes a user may be altered so that the digital assets are provided as an overlay in the image, such as digital shoes or clothing worn by the user in the image.

[0089] Other embodiments of the external system 220 not shown may include a retail store system or a membership system. In one embodiment, the digital activation layer 230A may connect to a third-party online store of a different company. The digital activation layer 230A may convert the digital asset into a discount code that can be used at the third-party online store. For example, the digital activation layer 230A may send a request including the digital asset or token to the external system 220, and the server may return a discount code in the form of a digital string or barcode that can be entered into the online store upon purchase of a physical product associated with the digital asset.

[0090] In one embodiment, the digital assets may be utilized as a condition for accessing a physical product sold at a physical store. As a non-limiting example, the digital activation layer may connect to a retail server associated with a physical store and provide a user access to a physical product, such as a particular pair of shoes (e.g., Yeezy Boost 700 V1 Carbon Blue) available at the physical store. In other words, access to the physical product may be gated based on the digital assets that may be used as a condition for accessing the physical product or for granting earlier access to the physical product, such as through an earlier opportunity to purchase the shoes or an earlier opportunity to enter the physical store. As an example, a user who has a particular digital asset, such as a digital version of a physical product, or a user who has a certain threshold number of tokens, may have more opportunities to purchase or earlier access to the physical product. An application installed on the user device 240A-D may receive instructions from the digital activation layer 230A to generate a unique barcode based on the user's digital assets or tokens.

[0091] 2B is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the digital activation layer 230A according to some embodiments. This alternative embodiment may be represented by the digital activation layer 230B implemented as a semi-private or mixed blockchain network including a private ledger 231B and a public ledger 231C. The private ledger 231B may be responsible for performing functions such as conducting transactions in a manner that is not visible to users of the enterprise network 205. A mixed blockchain network is particularly beneficial for enterprise networks 205 where an enterprise wants to provide a customer-facing (public) blockchain that is accessible to users of the enterprise network 205, while keeping certain operations controlled by the enterprise.

[0092] When implemented as a semi-private blockchain network, the digital activation layer 230B may gate access, for example, by issuing an invitation or requiring sign-up to the enterprise network 205. Enterprises may utilize the digital activation layer 230B to authenticate users who wish to sign up and transact on the enterprise network 205. Enterprises may establish permissions for each user, thereby enforcing constraints on the transactions users may make within the enterprise network 205.

[0093] In some embodiments, a component may be configured to operate with one or both of the private ledger 231B and the public ledger 231C based on the level of security required by the enterprise network 205. For example, the digital wallet manager 233 may be configured to communicate only with the private ledger 231B because all transactions involving digital wallets must be inaccessible to any user of the enterprise network. Similarly, the authentication module 234 may be configured to communicate only with the private ledger 231B. In contrast, the membership subsystem 232 and the digital assets subsystem 235 may be configured to communicate with the public ledger 231C to perform operations accessible to a user, such as accessing a user's user information (via the membership subsystem 232) and the user's digital assets (via the digital assets subsystem 235).

[0094] It should be noted that the digital activation layer 230B is not limited to the particular configuration shown in Figure 2B. It should be understood that the components may be configured to connect to the private ledger 231B and the public ledger 231C in different configurations in a manner consistent with the objective of processing secure, customer-directed transactions as described herein.

[0095] However, the membership subsystem 232, the digital wallet manager 233, the authentication module 234, and the digital assets subsystem 235 are configured in many embodiments to connect to a private ledger 231B and a public ledger 231C, and the private ledger 231B may communicate with the public ledger 231C. As an example of communication between these ledgers, the private ledger 231B and the public ledger 231C may each implement a parallel and separate blockchain. In one embodiment, the private ledger 231B may implement a main blockchain and the public ledger 231C may implement a side chain, or vice versa. The implementation of the main blockchain and the side chain is discussed in more detail above. In the context of the private ledger 231B and the public ledger 231C, the main blockchain may be used to process customer-targeted transactions, and one or more side chains may be implemented to process protected transactions or operations that should not be accessible for viewing by any user.

[0096] Exemplary Methods for Processing Digital and Physical Products FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method 300 for processing digital and physical products. As a non-limiting example with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2A-B, one or more processes described in connection with FIG. 3 may be performed by a user device (e.g., user device 240A-D of FIG. 2), a digital activation layer (e.g., digital activation layer 230A of FIG. 2), or a back-end layer (e.g., back-end layer 210 of FIG. 2). In such an embodiment, any of those components may execute code in memory to perform certain steps of method 300 of FIG. 3. Although method 300 of FIG. 3 is described below as being performed by digital activation layer 230A and user device 240A-D, other devices may store code and thus perform method 300 by directly executing the code. Thus, the following discussion of method 300 refers to the device of FIG. 2 as an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of method 300. Additionally, it should be recognized that not all steps are required to practice the disclosure provided herein. Additionally, as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, some of the steps may occur simultaneously or in a different order than that shown in FIG.

[0097] At 302, the digital activation layer 230A may connect the user device to a digital wallet on the distributed ledger 231A. In one embodiment, this step may further include the distributed activation layer 230A activating a digital wallet associated with the user device 240A in a block of the distributed ledger 231A. The user device 240A may be one of multiple user devices 240A-D managed by the activation architecture 200A. Once the digital activation layer 230 connects the user device 240A to a digital wallet in the distributed ledger 231A, the distributed ledger 231A includes an association between the digital wallet and the user device.

[0098] At 304, the digital activation layer 230A facilitates the purchase of a digital asset by the user device 240A. For example, the digital activation layer 230A may receive a request from the user device 240A to purchase a digital asset from a group of digital assets offered for sale via the digital asset subsystem 235. The digital activation layer 230A may update a block in the distributed ledger 231A to identify an association between the digital asset and a physical product corresponding to the digital asset. For example, the physical product may be a real-world representation of the digital asset. The purchase of the digital asset may also result in the digital asset being stored in a digital wallet.

[0099] In one embodiment, each digital asset in the group of digital assets is associated with a physical product. For example, there may be a one-to-one relationship between the number of digital assets and the number of production units of the physical product. The number of digital assets generated for one physical product may be determined by the backend layer 210 using a rarity attribute associated with the physical product. The rarity attribute may be determined based on any commercial attribute of the physical product, such as the number of production units, a predefined value set by the digital activation layer 230A, or the popularity of the physical product. The digital activation layer 230A may determine the number of the plurality of digital assets to be generated based on the rarity attribute, and may then generate the plurality of digital assets based on the determined number. The rarity attribute may be based on a physical characteristic of the corresponding physical product, such as the rarity of a color, color scheme, fabric, or design. In some embodiments, the production subsystem 212 may track metrics of all produced products, including physical characteristics, and provide the tracked production metrics to the digital activation layer 230A.

[0100] At 306, the digital asset may enter a trading period within the digital asset market for a predefined period of time. Once the digital asset enters the trading period, the digital activation layer 230a allows certain predefined actions to be taken on the digital asset. The actions include at least one of moving the digital asset to another user device, digitally destroying the digital asset, and digitally retaining the digital asset. Moving the digital asset involves a transaction in which ownership of the digital asset is transferred from one user (at one user device, e.g., 240A) to another user (at another user device, e.g., 240B). Digitally destroying the digital asset involves blocking the digital asset from future use. Digital assets cannot be removed from the digital ledger due to the nature of the underlying blockchain protocol. Instead, digitally destroying the digital asset involves moving the digital asset to a private one-way address within the digital ledger, thereby blocking the digital address from being moved outward. This process is irreversible, and once moved, a transaction is submitted to all nodes in the digital ledger to record the digital destruction of the digital asset.

[0101] Digitally retaining a digital asset means that ownership of the digital asset is maintained with the current user and further actions are prevented from being taken on the digital asset, including actions related to a physical product associated with the digital asset. For example, retaining a digital asset may involve sending a signal from the digital activation layer 230A to the backend layer 210 to prevent or expedite the production or delivery of the physical product to the owner. In some embodiments, the duration of the prevention of production or delivery may be set automatically, such as by some property of the digital asset, or manually, such as via user input. In other words, the digital activation layer 230A may send a signal to the backend layer 210 configured to delay (i.e., prevent) the initiation of a second action (e.g., production or delivery) related to the physical product. This second action is typically performed by a backend system in communication with the digital activation layer. The action may also include expediting the production or delivery of the physical product, thereby shortening the existing duration for which the physical product was to be produced or delivered. For example, a physical product may be originally scheduled to be produced or shipped over the next two months. An expediting action may result in reducing that time frame by a fixed period of time, such as one month.

[0102] Actions may be submitted from user device 240A as well as other user devices in the plurality of user devices 240A-D. Thus, while a digital asset is in a trading period, digital activation layer 230A may receive requests to take any of the actions from one or more user devices. After a predetermined period of time, the digital activation layer may take the requested action on the digital asset, and further actions are blocked from being taken on the digital asset.

[0103] At 308, after a predetermined period of time has passed, the digital activation layer 230A may determine the owner of the digital asset. In one embodiment, the digital activation layer 230A may update the ownership characteristics of the digital asset based on taking the requested action on the digital asset. The ownership characteristics may be updated on a block associated with the digital asset in the digital ledger. For example, if the requested action was to move the digital asset to another user, the digital activation layer 230A may update the ownership characteristics of the digital asset to reflect the move. In one embodiment, updating the ownership characteristics based on moving the digital asset to the second user device includes moving the digital asset from a digital wallet to another digital wallet associated with the second user device. Similarly, if the requested action was to digitally hold the digital asset, the digital activation layer 230A may verify that the ownership characteristics accurately reflect the current owner.

[0104] At 310, the digital activation layer 230A sends a signal to the backend layer 210. The signal may be configured to cause the backend layer 210 to initiate a second action associated with the physical product based on the ownership characteristic. For example, the second action may be to produce a physical product or to ship a physical product, and the digital activation layer 230A performs the requested second action based on the current owner of the digital asset. In some embodiments, the ownership characteristic identifies a physical address, and the second action associated with the physical product includes initiating a shipping procedure to deliver the physical product to the physical address. The shipping procedure may be initiated by the shipping subsystem 214 of the backend layer 210.

[0105] At 312, the digital activation layer 230A may perform another digital asset drop of the second digital asset to the determined owner of the digital asset. In some embodiments, this digital asset drop may be part of a membership or rewards service initiated to engage with the owner of the digital asset. The digital asset drop may involve generating a new digital asset that may be related or associated with the digital asset currently owned by the determined owner. For example, if the original digital asset is a shoe model with a first type of color scheme, the digital activation layer 230, via the digital asset subsystem 235, may generate a second digital asset of that shoe model, but with a completely unique color scheme that is specific to the user, commercial attributes of the shoe, or some other factor. In some embodiments, the assets that are part of the digital asset drop are customized for each user (rather than being a randomized set of digital assets). As one non-limiting example, the digital assets may be customized based on one or more attributes of the user, the user's device, and physical assets owned by the user. Examples of user attributes include membership level, years of membership, and geographic location. Membership information includes user behavior and interactions with the enterprise, such as whether the user is part of a rewards program (and, if so, the user's status level within the program) and the user's purchasing history. Examples of user device attributes include the type of user device and the geographic history of the user device. Examples of physical asset attributes include attributes regarding one or more physical assets owned by the user (not just physical attributes associated with digital assets), and the physical characteristics of the physical attributes.

[0106] In one embodiment, the digital asset drop includes identifying a second user device that owns a second digital asset in the group of digital assets. For example, the second user device may be associated with another version of a physical product (e.g., purchased by a user of the second user device). Digital activation layer 230A may deposit a third digital asset into a digital wallet associated with the user device and a fourth digital asset into a second digital wallet associated with the second user device. These additional digital assets may be generated in relation to the digital assets and the second digital asset owned by the first and second user devices, respectively.

[0107] At 314, the digital activation layer 230A may update the digital wallet associated with the determined owner by indicating ownership of the digital asset and the second digital asset in the digital wallet. In some embodiments, this update may involve updating a block in the digital ledger 231A associated with the ownership of the digital asset. The digital ledger 231A ensures that ownership of the digital asset can be traced back to all owners of the digital asset.

[0108] FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method 400 for generating digital assets, according to some embodiments. As a non-limiting example with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2A-B, one or more processes described in connection with FIG. 4 may be performed by a user device (e.g., user device 240A-D of FIG. 2), a digital activation layer (e.g., digital activation layer 230A of FIG. 2), or a back-end layer (e.g., back-end layer 210 of FIG. 2). In such an embodiment, any of those components may execute code in memory to perform certain steps of method 400 of FIG. 4. Although method 400 of FIG. 4 is described below as being performed by digital activation layer 230A and user device 240A-D, other devices may store code and thus perform method 400 by directly executing the code. Thus, the following discussion of method 400 refers to the device of FIG. 2 as an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of method 400. Additionally, it should be recognized that not all steps are required to practice the disclosure provided herein. Additionally, as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, some of the steps may occur simultaneously or in a different order than that shown in FIG.

[0109] At 402, the digital activation layer 230A may detect one or more trigger conditions related to the physical product. The trigger conditions may be related to generating a digital asset in relation to the physical product. Examples of trigger conditions include a scheduled time for a digital asset drop to a user within the enterprise network 205, a request from one or more users to customize or generate a new digital asset, detection of conditions related to the physical product, such as manufacturing conditions (e.g., when a physical product is manufactured, when a certain number of manufacturing units of the physical product have been manufactured) or commercial conditions (e.g., sales numbers).

[0110] At 404, the digital activation layer 230A may then identify physical and / or commercial attributes of the physical product and related digital assets based on the detected trigger condition, which are described in further detail herein. The detected trigger condition may identify physical and / or commercial attributes to consider when generating the digital asset. For example, if the trigger condition is a scheduled digital asset drop, the trigger condition may further specify the related digital assets underlying the new digital asset, physical attributes associated with the physical product owned by the user who will receive the digital asset drop, to name a few. This may include determining the number of digital assets to generate, which may be based on the desired rarity of the digital assets.

[0111] At 406, the digital activation layer 230A may generate digital assets based on the identified physical and / or commercial attributes of the physical product and related digital assets. This may involve generating one or more digital assets based on the identified attributes of the physical product and related digital assets. Operations for generating digital assets are described in further detail herein, for example, in connection with the digital asset subsystem 235.

[0112] At 408, the digital activation layer 230A may then deliver one or more generated digital assets to a desired location, which may be one or more of a digital asset marketplace, or to a person or users as part of a rewards program with the enterprise network 205.

[0113] 5 is a system diagram illustrating communication between different devices in a system for processing digital assets in combination with a physical product. The components are described in relation to FIG. 2A, but are not limited to this embodiment. It should be noted that the communication shown in FIG. 5 represents only one possible embodiment of the interaction between the identified components. It should be understood that other implementations of communication and other components may be involved in the process for the purpose of processing digital assets in combination with a physical product according to the description in this disclosure.

[0114] At 502, the user device 240A may submit a request to join the enterprise network 205 via the digital activation layer 230A. The request may be received by the membership subsystem 232. The request may include user information such as a username, password, and other information that may be utilized by the digital activation layer 230A to verify the identity of the user operating the user device 240A. In some embodiments, the request may include personal information known only to the user (such as a blockchain address, a unique private key and / or public key associated with the user, etc.). The request, along with the personal information, may be encrypted using a public key provided by the membership subsystem 232.

[0115] At 504, the membership subsystem 232 may provide the user information in the request to the authentication module 234 for authentication of the user. If the request is encrypted, the membership subsystem 232 may first decrypt the request using its own private key that corresponds to the public key used to encrypt the request. This step differs from traditional authentication steps because the authentication module 234 may utilize a side chain that runs in parallel with the main blockchain. After decryption, the membership subsystem 232 may provide the user's personal information to the authentication module 234, which may then add personal information from the enterprise (e.g., hash, random string, timestamp) to create a new bundle.

[0116] At 506, the authentication module 234 may return the bundle to the user device 240A. In some embodiments, the authentication module 234 may encrypt the bundle using the user's public key (which may have been included in the request or may be otherwise known to the enterprise network 205).

[0117] At 508, the user device 240A may process the bundle to obtain the information provided by the authentication module 234 to complete the registration process. If the bundle is encrypted using the user's public key, the user device 240A may decrypt the bundle using a private key associated with the user's public key. The user device 240A may digitally sign the bundle using another private key associated with the blockchain network and return the signed bundle to the authentication module 234.

[0118] At 510, the authentication module 234 authenticates the user for registration into the enterprise network 205 by verifying that the digital signature is authentic. If the digital signature is not authentic, the authentication module 234 terminates the process, thereby preventing the user from registering with the enterprise network. If the digital signature is authentic, the registration is completed by the authentication module 234 communicating with the digital wallet manager 233 to establish the user's digital wallet for use with the enterprise network 205. In some embodiments, this may also include establishing permissions for operations that the user device 240A may perform within the enterprise network 205. As discussed above, establishing the permissions for each user may be done using smart contracts in the distributed ledger 231A.

[0119] At 512, if registration is complete, the user device 240A may be given access to the digital asset subsystem 235 and allowed to perform approved actions, such as purchasing digital assets and corresponding physical products.

[0120] At 514, after receiving the requested action from user device 240A, digital asset subsystem 235 may communicate with digital wallet manager 233 to verify that user device 240A has sufficient funds or permission to perform the action. For example, if user device 240A is requesting to purchase a digital asset, digital asset subsystem 235 may verify with digital wallet manager 233 that user device 240A has sufficient funds to purchase the digital asset.

[0121] At 516, the digital asset subsystem 235 may communicate to the user device 240A whether the operation is allowed to proceed. In one embodiment, this communication may include a notification that the digital assets have been deposited into a digital wallet associated with the user device 240A, establishing ownership of the digital assets by the user device 240A.

[0122] At 518, user device 240A may request additional actions that are permitted at this point based on its possession of the digital asset, such as transferring ownership of the digital asset to another user device (e.g., via sale), digitally destroying the owned digital asset, digitally retaining the digital asset, or requesting shipment of a physical product associated with the digital asset.

[0123] At 520, the digital asset subsystem 235 may communicate with the shipping subsystem 214 of the backend tier 210 to take additional action based on any action requested by the user device 240A. For example, if the user device 240A requests that the digital asset be kept digitally, the digital asset subsystem 235 may communicate a signal to the shipping subsystem 214 to prevent shipping of the corresponding physical product. Conversely, if the user device 240A requests shipping, the digital asset subsystem 235 may communicate another signal to the shipping subsystem 214 to initiate a shipping procedure for the corresponding physical product.

[0124] Additional Exemplary Methods for Processing Digital Assets and Physical Products FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method 600 for customizing a digital asset. As a non-limiting example with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2A-B, one or more processes described in connection with FIG. 6 may be performed by a user device (e.g., user device 240A-D of FIG. 2), a digital activation layer (e.g., digital activation layer 230A of FIG. 2), or a back-end layer (e.g., back-end layer 210 of FIG. 2). In such an embodiment, any of those components may execute code in memory to perform certain steps of method 600 of FIG. 6. Although method 600 of FIG. 6 is described below as being performed by digital activation layer 230A and user device 240A-D, other devices may store code and thus perform method 600 by directly executing the code. Thus, the following discussion of method 600 refers to the device of FIG. 2 as an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of method 600. Additionally, it should be recognized that not all steps provided herein are required to practice the disclosure. Additionally, as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, some of the steps may occur simultaneously or in a different order than that shown in FIG.

[0125] At 602, digital activation layer 230A may receive a request to customize a digital asset from a user device, such as user devices 240A-D. The customization request may include authentication information to verify the user's identity, the user's account information in the digital asset system, digital asset information, and customization preferences. In one embodiment, the request is received through a downloaded application on the user device, which provides a graphical user interface for interacting with a visualization of the digital asset, which may allow, for example, selecting various customization options that may be included in the customization request. In one embodiment, the request may be for generating a new digital asset. In another embodiment, the request may be for recombining components of an existing digital asset to create a new digital asset. In this embodiment, the request includes or otherwise identifies components from the existing digital asset that should be used to customize the digital asset.

[0126] At 604, the digital activation layer 230A may analyze the customization request to determine conditions for customizing the digital asset. In one embodiment, the conditions may be a cost, which may be in the form of digital or real currency. Other conditions may include requirements imposed by a smart contract on the distributed ledger 231A associated with the digital asset. In an embodiment where the digital asset is created by recombining existing digital assets, a separate smart contract specifying the manner of customization may be utilized to determine the conditions for combining the components. For example, certain components may be incompatible (e.g., sandals may be incompatible with eyelet components). In one embodiment, the conditions may be linked to the user requesting the customization, indicating whether the user has permission or is otherwise allowed to perform the customization.

[0127] At 606, if the conditions for customizing the digital asset are met, digital activation layer 230A may obtain digital asset information related to the information provided in the request, such as information needed to generate or customize the digital asset. In an embodiment where a digital asset is to be generated based on an existing digital asset, the customization request may include information of the digital assets and their associated components that are the basis for the customization.

[0128] At 608, the digital activation layer 230A may determine a customization mode and associated options. The customization mode may indicate how the digital asset is generated (e.g., from components of existing digital assets, how components are combined). Examples of customization modes include machine learning, random, popularity, and user selection. The machine learning customization mode is based on a machine learning model that selects and matches components based on past information (e.g., sales information) related to physical products that contained the same or similar physical components corresponding to the digital components, as well as other information and metrics related to the digital asset. The random customization mode selects and matches components in a random manner without regard to other information or metrics. The popularity customization mode selects and matches components based on user behavior (e.g., votes, social media posts) related to the digital assets and those components. The user selection mode gives the user complete control over the specific components and combinations that result in the digital asset. In some embodiments, the user selection mode may transfer user control of the digital asset to the generation of the corresponding physical product, for example, through communication with the production subsystem 212.

[0129] In one embodiment, the digital activation layer 230A may select a mode based on a digital asset system default setting or a previously selected recombination mode if a user preference is not available. In one embodiment, the digital activation layer 230A may combine multiple customization modes. For example, the digital activation layer 230A may generate a percentage of digital assets in a random mode and another percentage of digital assets in a popularity mode. The digital activation layer 230A may determine the percentage of each mode based on recombination requests or a random algorithm, or based on conditions imposed by the distributed ledger 231A, such as by an associated smart contract.

[0130] At 610, the digital activation layer 230A may customize the digital asset based on the determined customization mode (208) and the retrieved information of the associated digital components (206). The digital activation layer 230A may combine the digital components as specified by the customization mode. In one embodiment, the digital activation layer 230A uses a specific template for the digital asset on which the digital components are implemented to form the digital asset. As a non-limiting example, if the digital asset is implemented as a digital shoe, the digital activation layer 230A may retrieve certain templates corresponding to specific styles such as sneakers, boots, sandals, etc. The templates may include placeholder locations where the digital components can be placed. For example, a sneaker template may include placeholder locations for eyelets, tongues, soles, specific designs, colors, and features. The retrieved component information may then be populated into those placeholder locations based on the customization mode. In a user selection mode, a user may select a template and manually select which components correspond to each placeholder position. In other modes, a template may be selected by the digital activation layer 230A based on the information provided in the customization request and the customization mode.

[0131] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method 700 of providing rewards to a user of a digital asset system. As a non-limiting example with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2A-B, one or more processes described in connection with FIG. 7 may be performed by a user device (e.g., user device 240A-D of FIG. 2), a digital activation layer (e.g., digital activation layer 230A of FIG. 2), or a back-end layer (e.g., back-end layer 210 of FIG. 2). In such an embodiment, any of those components may execute code in memory to perform certain steps of method 700 of FIG. 7. Although method 700 of FIG. 7 is described below as being performed by digital activation layer 230A and user device 240A-D, other devices may store code and thus perform method 700 by directly executing the code. Thus, the following discussion of method 700 refers to the device of FIG. 2 as an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of method 700. Additionally, it should be recognized that not all steps are required to practice the disclosure provided herein. Additionally, as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, some of the steps may occur simultaneously or in a different order than that shown in FIG.

[0132] At 702, the digital activation layer 230A receives a request to associate a physical product, such as the physical product 116, with a digital asset, such as the digital asset 120. As a non-limiting example, the physical product 116 may be purchased from a physical store and may include a means for digitally identifying the physical product through wireless protocols RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, or WiFi, or by scanning a QR code or other identifier imprinted on the physical product 116. The request may be received from a user device and may include a user ID and an identification of the physical product to associate with the digital asset. In one embodiment, upon receiving the request, the digital activation layer 230A may verify the user's identity and ownership of the physical product 116 based on the information provided in the request. In one embodiment, the request may include additional information that can be used to verify the purchase of the physical product, the user's identity, or other user actions, such as location information of the physical product 116 and the location and user of the user device.

[0133] At 704, an application on the user device may be used to track usage of the physical product 116 after it has been linked to the digital assets 120 by the digital activation layer 230A. Usage behavior may include social media behavior where a user posts images or text related to the physical product 116, video gaming behavior where the digital assets 120 are utilized in a video game, physical activity information taken with the physical product 116 such as steps, calories burned, distance walked, distance run, and jumps tracked by the user device with respect to the physical product 116. Tracking of usage behavior may be done via an application on the user device, where the application activates sensors such as an accelerometer or heart rate monitor that may be implemented on a wearable device connected to the user device.

[0134] At 706, the digital activation layer 230A may associate the tracked usage information of the physical product with the digital assets. The distributed ledger 231A may associate the tracked usage information with a block in the blockchain network and may include updating information present in the block to include the tracked usage information. In some embodiments, the tracked usage information may be linked to other corresponding physical products related to the physical product. For example, if the physical product is a particular shoe promoted by a celebrity, such as a soccer player, the tracked usage information may be based on actual actions the soccer player takes with the physical product during a match. In this case, a user device (e.g., user devices 240A-D) may be associated with the celebrity's physical product, thereby providing the tracked usage information to the digital activation layer 230A for use in updating all digital assets related to the physical product.

[0135] At 708, the digital activation layer 230A may update the digital asset based on the tracked usage information. In one embodiment, updating the digital asset means updating the appearance of the digital asset or updating the digital currency associated with the digital asset. In a non-limiting example, digital currency may be awarded based on certain milestones associated with the tracked usage information, such as reaching a certain number of steps or visiting a particular physical location, such as a store.

[0136] FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method 800 of importing digital assets into a third party application, such as one provided via external system 220. As a non-limiting example with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2A-B, one or more processes described in connection with FIG. 8 may be performed by a user device (e.g., user device 240A-D of FIG. 2), a digital activation layer (e.g., digital activation layer 230A of FIG. 2), or a back-end layer (e.g., back-end layer 210 of FIG. 2). In such an embodiment, any of those components may execute code in memory to perform certain steps of method 800 of FIG. 8. Although method 800 of FIG. 8 is described below as being performed by digital activation layer 230A and user device 240A-D, other devices may store code and thus perform method 800 by directly executing that code. Thus, the following discussion of method 800 will refer to the devices of FIG. 2 as an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of method 800. Further, it should be appreciated that not all steps provided herein are required to practice the present disclosure. Moreover, as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, some of the steps may be performed simultaneously or in a different order than that shown in FIG.

[0137] At 802, digital activation layer 230A may receive a request from a user device, such as user devices 240A-D, to import a digital asset into a third party application, such as one provided by external system 220. The third party application may be a video game or a social media application.

[0138] At 804, the digital activation layer 230A may connect to an external system 220 hosting a third-party application, such as the gamification component 222 or the social media component 224. The digital activation layer 230A may determine whether the user is authorized to import the digital asset into that application. For example, there may be certain conditions imposed by the digital activation layer 230A or a smart contract on the blockchain network associated with the digital asset. In one embodiment, at this step, the digital activation layer 230A may pull a user profile associated with the user, or an associated smart contract may automatically perform this check. Either method may include specifying the conditions on which the user can import the digital asset, as well as other details regarding how the digital asset is imported into different applications.

[0139] At 806, the digital activation layer 230A may analyze the digital asset to obtain characteristics of the digital asset and determine how to import the digital asset into the third party application. The characteristics of the digital asset may determine how the digital asset is imported into each application. For example, digital shoes imported into a sports video game may cause the player to run faster, such as by changing the attributes of the video game character, or may simply change the appearance of the video game character. As another example, a digital shirt imported into a social media application may digitally change the user in the image within the social media application. As another example, importing a digital asset into a sports or action video game may cause a faster player based on the characteristics of the digital asset, such as whether the digital asset corresponds to sneakers or cross-training shoes.

[0140] At 808, the digital activation layer 230A may import the digital assets and / or their characteristics to the external system 220, which may personalize the application based on the provided information. For example, the digital activation layer 230A may send the characteristics of the digital assets to an application server for import into the application.

[0141] FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a method 900 of processing digital assets based on smart contracts for implementing blockchain technology. As a non-limiting example with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2A-B, one or more processes described in connection with FIG. 9 may be performed by a user device (e.g., user device 240A-D of FIG. 2), a digital activation layer (e.g., digital activation layer 230A of FIG. 2), or a back-end layer (e.g., back-end layer 210 of FIG. 2). In such an embodiment, any of those components may execute code in memory to perform certain steps of the method 900 of FIG. 9. Although the method 900 of FIG. 9 is described below as being performed by the digital activation layer 230A and user devices 240A-D, other devices may store code and thus perform the method 900 by directly executing the code. Thus, the following discussion of the method 900 refers to the device of FIG. 2 as an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of the method 900. Additionally, it should be recognized that not all steps are required to practice the disclosure provided herein. Additionally, as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, some of the steps may occur simultaneously or in a different order than that shown in FIG.

[0142] At 902, digital activation layer 230A may receive a request to process a digital asset. Examples of processing a digital asset include generating a new digital asset, customizing the digital asset based on new components, updating the digital asset based on conditions such as user behavior or user milestones, and importing the digital asset into another application.

[0143] At 904, the digital activation layer 230A may retrieve a smart contract associated with the digital asset, where the smart contract includes information and conditions related to the digital asset. The information may include components of the digital asset and characteristics of the digital asset. The conditions may specify actions that can be taken on the digital asset and milestones related to the digital asset. The conditions may be triggered based on information in a user request.

[0144] One condition may be to produce a physical product associated with the digital asset. In some embodiments, the enterprise may allow its customers to have direct access to control the production subsystem 212. Direct access may mean that a customer request may be allowed to include specific design details for a custom physical product, and a smart contract may allow those specific design details to be forwarded to the production subsystem 212, where the physical product may be manufactured according to the customer request. Once manufactured by the production subsystem 212, the digital activation layer 230A may cause the shipping subsystem 214 to ship the custom physical product directly to the customer (i.e., not through a physical store). In some embodiments, the physical product manufactured may be a different style of product than the digital asset. For example, the digital asset may be shoes, but the digital activation layer 230A may enable access to different services, such as the option to manufacture a different style of product, such as a shirt, pants, or backpack (e.g., based on the customer's membership status).

[0145] In some embodiments, an enterprise may store multiple different smart contracts on a blockchain that is related to direct access, and each smart contract may be triggered based on customer requests and conditions related to the customer. For example, an enterprise may generate separate smart contracts for customers in different geographic regions to account for the capabilities of different production subsystems in those geographic regions. As another example, an enterprise may generate separate smart contracts for each physical product (e.g., footwear, clothing), and a particular smart contract may be triggered based on information in the customer request.

[0146] Other examples of conditions include customizing the digital asset and transferring the digital asset for use with the external system 220. Customizing the digital asset may include allowing the user to add personal details such as the user's name, updating the appearance of the digital asset based on real-world use of the corresponding physical product, and based on the user's online behavior, such as social media posts that engage with the digital asset. For example, transferring the digital asset for use with the gamification component 222 may include allowing the digital asset to be digitally represented in a video game on the user's device.

[0147] At 906, the digital activation layer 230A may determine the terms of the smart contract triggered by the customer request, such as the examples above, including direct access to the production subsystem 212, customization of the digital asset, and transfer for use in the external system 220.

[0148] At 908, the digital activation layer 230A may then process the digital asset based on the terms of the smart contract and based on the user request. For example, if the request is to customize a physical product associated with the digital asset, the digital activation layer 230A may forward the request with the customization details to the backend layer 210, and the production subsystem 212 may produce the physical product according to the customization details. As another example, if the request is to move the digital asset into a video game, the digital activation layer 230A may move the digital asset to an external system. The digital activation layer 230A may require that the external system be implemented as a side chain separate from the main blockchain to maintain control over the digital asset. When implemented as a side chain, the external system is securely connected to the digital activation layer 230A, which allows the digital activation layer 230A to securely move the digital asset to, for example, the gamification component 222 or the social media component 224 and enforce constraints on the usage of the digital asset.

[0149] Example Digital Assets 10A-C are views of an exemplary interactive visualization 1000 of a digital asset. The interactive visualization 1000 may be implemented with certain visual characteristics that provide access to information about the digital asset. The interactive visualization 1000 is merely one possible embodiment of a digital asset and is not intended to limit the physical representations or visual characteristics that may be utilized in implementing a digital asset. Other visualizations and implementations of digital assets are possible that are consistent with the descriptions of digital assets provided herein.

[0150] In this embodiment, the interactive visualization 1000 of the digital asset may include visual features for displaying a corresponding physical product, an associated advertising campaign, multimedia showing the corresponding physical product, user-related data related to the owner, and commercial attributes related to the corresponding physical product (or related physical products). That is, different visual features of the interactive visualization 1000 may correspond to different information related to the digital asset, such as the corresponding physical product, indicators related to the physical product, indicators related to the digital asset, ownership information of the digital asset, and ownership information of the physical product. The interactive visualization 1000 may be manipulated (e.g., rotated, rotated, flipped) to access different visual features that may be selectable (e.g., provide access to links). When selected, the visual feature may provide information related to the selected visual feature.

[0151] FIG. 10A illustrates an interactive visualization 1000 that includes a corresponding physical product image 1010, related external system information 1020 related to the corresponding physical product, and associated media 1030 related to the corresponding physical product. The interactive visualization 1000 may be displayed on a user device, such as when a user requests access to or requests to view a digital asset, and may be manipulated by the user device to access various functions of the interactive visualization 1000. For example, selection of the physical product image 1010 may retrieve and display additional information about the physical product in the interactive visualization 1000. Selection of the related external system information 1020 may retrieve media information from the external system 220, such as from video game information in which the digital asset is used, or social media information in which the digital asset and physical product are mentioned or posted. The associated media 1030 may be any video, audio, or imagery (e.g., an advertising campaign, etc.) related to the physical product or digital asset provided by the enterprise network 205.

[0152] 10B shows another view of the interactive visualization 1000 that includes secure information 1040 related to the digital asset. This view may be brought about by a rotation of the interactive visualization 1000. In this view, the secure information 1040 may include information that is encrypted or requires additional authentication to access. Examples of secure information 1040 include ownership of the digital asset (e.g., all previous owners of the digital asset), and the history of transactions of the digital asset within the enterprise network 205.

[0153] 10C shows another view of the interactive visualization 1000 including indicators 1050 of digital assets and physical products. This view may be brought about by a rotation of the interactive visualization 1000. In this view, the indicators 1050 may provide information collected by the distributed ledger 231A, such as commercial attributes of the physical products, and transaction history of the digital assets, such as to and from external systems 220.

[0154] 10A-C depict digital assets 1000 as corresponding to physical products. In such an implementation, all digital assets owned by one user may be linked to a side chain separate from the main blockchain, allowing all of the user's digital assets to be easily processed and accessed by the digital activation layer.

[0155] Exemplary Computer System Various embodiments may be implemented using one or more well-known computer systems, such as, for example, computer system 1100 shown in Figure 11. One or more computer systems 1100 may be used to implement the embodiments described herein, as well as combinations and subcombinations thereof.

[0156] Computer system 1100 may include one or more processors (also referred to as central processing units or CPUs), such as processor 1104. Processor 1104 may be connected to a communications infrastructure or bus 1106.

[0157] The computer system 1100 may also include user input / output devices 1103 , such as a monitor, keyboard, pointing device, etc., which may communicate with a communications infrastructure 1106 through a user input / output interface 1102 .

[0158] One or more of the processors 1104 may be a graphics processing unit (GPU). In one embodiment, a GPU may be a processor that is a special-purpose electronic circuit designed to process mathematically intensive applications. A GPU may have an efficient parallel structure for processing large blocks of data in parallel, such as mathematically intensive data common in computer graphics applications, images, videos, etc.

[0159] The computer system 1100 may also include a main or primary memory 1108, such as a random access memory (RAM). The main memory 1108 may include one or more levels of cache. The main memory 1108 may store control logic (i.e., computer software) and / or data.

[0160] The computer system 1100 may also include one or more secondary storage devices or memories 1110. The secondary memory 1110 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 1112 and / or a removable storage device or drive 1114. The removable storage drive 1114 may be a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disk drive, an optical storage device, a tape backup device, and / or any other storage device / drive.

[0161] The removable storage drive 1114 may interact with a removable storage device 1118. The removable storage device 1118 may include a computer usable or readable storage device on which computer software (control logic) and / or data is stored. The removable storage device 1118 may be a floppy disk, magnetic tape, compact disk, DVD, optical storage disk, and / or any other computer data storage device. The removable storage drive 1114 may read from and / or write to the removable storage device 1118.

[0162] The secondary memory 1110 may include other means, devices, components, mechanisms, or other techniques for allowing computer programs and / or other instructions and / or data to be accessed by the computer system 1100. Such means, devices, components, mechanisms, or other techniques may include, for example, removable storage 1122 and interface 1120. Examples of removable storage 1122 and interface 1120 may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as those found in video game consoles), removable memory chips (such as EPROMs or PROMs) and associated sockets, memory sticks and USB ports, memory cards and associated memory card slots, and / or any other removable storage device and associated interface.

[0163] The computer system 1100 may further include a communication or network interface 1124. The communication interface 1124 may enable the computer system 1100 to communicate and interact with any combination of external devices, external networks, external entities, etc. (individually and collectively referred to by reference number 1128). For example, the communication interface 1124 may enable the computer system 1100 to communicate with external or remote devices 1128 through a communication path 1126, which may be wired and / or wireless (or a combination thereof) and may include any combination of a LAN, a WAN, the Internet, etc. Control and / or data may be communicated to and from the computer system 1100 via the communication path 1126.

[0164] The computer system 1100 may be any of a personal digital assistant (PDA), a desktop workstation, a laptop or notebook computer, a netbook, a tablet, a smartphone, a smart watch or other wearable item, an electrical device, part of the Internet of Things, and / or an embedded system, or any combination thereof, to name a few non-limiting examples.

[0165] The computer system 1100 may be a client or server that accesses or hosts any application and / or data through any delivery framework, including, but not limited to, remote or distributed cloud computing solutions, local or on-premise software ("on-premise" cloud-based solutions), a "as a service" model (e.g., Content as a Service (CaaS), Digital Content as a Service (DCaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), Managed Software as a Service (MSaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS), Framework as a Service (FaaS), Backend as a Service (BaaS), Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), etc.), and / or a hybrid model including any combination of the above examples or other service or delivery frameworks.

[0166] Applicable data structures, file formats, and schemas in computer system 1100 may be derived from standards including, but not limited to, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Extensible Markup Language (XML), Yet Another Markup Language (YAML), Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), Wireless Markup Language (WML), MessagePack, XML User Interface Language (XUL), or any other functionally similar representations, alone or in combination. Alternatively, proprietary data structures, formats, or schemas may be used, alone or in combination with known or published standards.

[0167] In one embodiment, a tangible, non-transitory device or article of manufacture comprising a tangible, non-transitory computer usable or readable medium having control logic (software) stored thereon may also be referred to herein as a computer program product or program storage device. This includes, but is not limited to, tangible articles of manufacture embodying computer system 1100, main memory 1108, secondary memory 1110, and removable storage devices 1118 and 1122, and any combination thereof. Such control logic, when executed by one or more data processing devices (such as computer system 1100), may cause such data processing devices to operate as described herein.

[0168] Based on the teachings contained in this disclosure, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art how to implement and use embodiments of the present disclosure using data processing devices, computer systems, and / or computer architectures other than those shown in Figure 11. In particular, embodiments may operate in conjunction with software, hardware, and / or operating system implementations other than those described herein.

[0169] It should be recognized that the Detailed Description section is intended to be used to interpret the claims, and that none of the other sections are intended to be so, The other sections may describe one or more exemplary embodiments contemplated by the inventors, but do not describe all of them, and thus are not intended to limit either the disclosure or the appended claims.

[0170] Although the present disclosure describes exemplary embodiments for exemplary fields and applications, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Other embodiments and variations thereof are possible and are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. For example, and without limiting the generality of this paragraph, the embodiments are not limited to the software, hardware, firmware, and / or entities shown in the figures and / or described herein. Moreover, the embodiments (whether or not explicitly described herein) have significant utility in fields and applications beyond the examples described herein.

[0171] The embodiments have been described herein with the aid of functional building blocks that illustrate the implementation of specified functions and relationships thereof. Boundaries between these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for convenience of description. Alternate boundaries may be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships (or equivalents) are appropriately performed. Alternate embodiments may also use an order different from that described herein to perform functional blocks, steps, operations, methods, etc.

[0172] Reference herein to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "exemplary embodiment," or similar phrases means that the embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all embodiments include that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, if a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in relation to one embodiment, it is believed to be within the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate that feature, structure, or characteristic in relation to other embodiments, whether or not it is explicitly mentioned or described herein. Also, some embodiments may be described using the expressions "coupled" and "connected," along with their derivatives. These terms are not necessarily intended as synonyms for each other. For example, some embodiments may be described using the terms "connected" and / or "coupled" to mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. However, the term "coupled" may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other but still operate or interact with each other.

[0173] The scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0174] 100 Digital Asset System 110 Backend Layer 118 Digital Activation Layer 122A, 122B User Device 112 Physical Inventory 114 Digital Asset Market 116 Physical products 120 Digital Assets 200A Activation Architecture 205 Enterprise Network 220 External Systems 240A~D User Device 210 Backend Tier 230A, 230B Digital Activation Layer 212 Production Subsystem 214 Dispatch Subsystem 216 Purchasing Subsystem 231A Distributed Ledger 232 Membership Subsystem 233 Digital Wallet Manager 234 Authentication Module 235 Digital Asset Subsystem 222 Gamification Components 224 Social Media 231B Private Ledger 231C Public Ledger 300, 400, 600, 700, 800, 900 methods 1000 Interactive Visualizations, Digital Assets 1010 images 1020 External System Information 1030 Related Media 1040 Secure Information 1050 indicators 1100 Computer Systems 1104 Processor 1106 Bus 1103 User Input / Output Devices 1102 User Input / Output Interface 1106 Communications Infrastructure 1108 Main Memory 1110 Auxiliary Memory 1112 Hard Disk Drive 1114 Removable storage devices or drives 1118 Removable Storage Device 1122 Removable Storage Device 1120 Interface 1124 Communication Interface 1128 Remote Device 1126 Communication Path

Claims

1. A method for securely distributing multiple digital assets through a digital activation layer that constitutes a distributed node system, comprising: a distributed node system, in response to a user device of the plurality of user devices connecting to the digital activation layer, activating on the distributed node system a digital storage component associated with the user device, the distributed node system including an association between the digital storage component and the user device; receiving, from a user device, a request for ownership of a digital asset of a plurality of digital assets, the distributed node system including a block that identifies an association between the digital asset and a physical product; storing the digital asset in a digital storage component following receipt by the distributed node system of a request for ownership of the digital asset; The distributed node system receives an action to be performed on the digital asset from the user device; the digital activation layer performing an action on the digital asset, the action being configured to delay or accelerate the initiation of a second action related to the physical product, the second action being performed by a production subsystem, a shipping subsystem, or a purchasing subsystem included in a back-end system in communication with the digital activation layer; The digital activation layer updates an ownership characteristic of the digital asset based on performing an action on the digital asset; Each digital asset in the plurality of digital assets is associated with a physical product; determining, by a back-end system, a scarcity attribute associated with the physical product; determining a number of the plurality of digital assets to generate based on the scarcity attribute; and generating a plurality of digital assets based on the determined number; Including, identifying a second user device among the plurality of user devices that owns a second digital asset among the plurality of digital assets; depositing a third digital asset into a digital storage component associated with the user device, the third digital asset being based on an attribute associated with the user device; and depositing a fourth digital asset to a second digital storage component associated with the second user device, where the third digital asset and a fourth digital asset are deposited based on the third digital asset and the second digital asset, where the fourth digital asset is based on an attribute associated with the second user device; The method of claim 1, wherein the digital assets have different visual characteristics and the method provides information related to a visual characteristic selected by manipulation of a user device.

2. 2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the action includes at least one of: moving the digital asset to another user device of the plurality of user devices, digitally destroying the digital asset, and digitally retaining the digital asset.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein updating the ownership characteristics based on moving the digital asset to another user device includes moving the digital asset from a digital storage component to another digital storage component associated with the other user device.

4. Holding digital assets digitally is 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: sending a second signal from the digital activation layer to the backend system configured to cause the backend system to prevent initiating a second action related to the physical product.

5. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the distributed node system is a semi-private blockchain network.

6. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital asset is a non-fungible token generated based on at least one physical attribute of a physical product.

7. A system for safely distributing multiple digital assets through a digital activation layer that constitutes a semi-private distributed node system, the system comprising: The system has a digital activation layer that configures a distributed node system, and the digital activation layer: activating, on a distributed node system, a digital storage component in response to a user device of the plurality of user devices connecting to a digital activation layer, the distributed node system including an association between the digital storage component and the user device; receiving, from a user device, a request for ownership of a digital asset of a plurality of digital assets, the distributed node system including a block that identifies an association between the digital asset and a physical product; subsequent to receiving a request for ownership of the digital asset, storing the digital asset in a digital storage component; receiving from a user device an action to perform on a digital asset; performing an action on the digital asset by the digital activation layer, the action being configured to delay or hasten the initiation of a second action related to the physical product, the second action being performed by a production subsystem, a shipping subsystem, or a purchasing subsystem included in a back-end system in communication with the digital activation layer; updating an ownership characteristic of the digital asset based on performing an action on the digital asset; sending a signal from the digital activation layer to the backend system configured to cause the backend system to initiate a second action related to the physical product based on the ownership characteristic; [0023] The back-end system includes a dispatch subsystem, the back-end system Initiating a second action related to the physical product based on the signal received from the digital activation layer and based on the ownership characteristic. The method further comprises: Each digital asset in the plurality of digital assets is associated with a physical product; determining, by a back-end system, a scarcity attribute associated with the physical product; determining a number of the plurality of digital assets to generate based on the scarcity attribute; and Generate multiple digital assets based on a determined number It is configured as follows: identifying a second user device among the plurality of user devices that owns a second digital asset among the plurality of digital assets; depositing a third digital asset into a digital storage component associated with the user device, the third digital asset being based on an attribute associated with the user device; and depositing a fourth digital asset to a second digital storage component associated with the second user device, where a third digital asset and a fourth digital asset are deposited based on the third digital asset and the second digital asset, where the fourth digital asset is based on an attribute associated with the second user device; It is configured as follows: the digital assets have distinct visual characteristics; A system that provides information related to a visual characteristic selected by operation of a user device.

8. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the action includes at least one of moving the digital asset to another user device of the plurality of user devices, digitally destroying the digital asset, and digitally retaining the digital asset.

9. 10. The system of claim 8, wherein updating the ownership characteristics based on moving the digital asset to another user device includes moving the digital asset from a digital storage component to another digital storage component associated with the other user device.

10. Holding digital assets digitally is 10. The system of claim 8, further comprising: sending a second signal from the digital activation layer to the backend system configured to cause the backend system to prevent initiating a second action related to the physical product.

11. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the distributed node system is a semi-private blockchain network.

12. 10. The system of claim 7, wherein the digital asset is a non-fungible token generated based on at least one physical attribute of a physical product.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code stored thereon, the program code being for causing a digital activation layer constituting a distributed node system to: activating, on a distributed node system, digital storage components in response to the user device connecting to the digital activation layer, the distributed node system including associations between the digital storage components; receiving, from a user device, a request for ownership of a digital asset of a plurality of digital assets, the distributed node system including a block that identifies an association between the digital asset and a physical product; subsequent to receiving a request for ownership of the digital asset, storing the digital asset in a digital storage component; receiving from a user device an action to perform on a digital asset; performing an action on the digital asset by the digital activation layer, the action being configured to delay or hasten the initiation of a second action related to the physical product, the second action being performed by a production subsystem, a shipping subsystem, or a purchasing subsystem included in a back-end system in communication with the digital activation layer; updating an ownership characteristic of the digital asset based on performing an action on the digital asset; a non-transitory computer-readable medium executable to cause a computer to perform operations including: Each digital asset in the plurality of digital assets is associated with a physical product; determining, by a back-end system, a scarcity attribute associated with the physical product; determining a number of the plurality of digital assets to generate based on the scarcity attribute; and generating a plurality of digital assets based on the determined number; and identifying a second user device among the plurality of user devices that owns a second digital asset among the plurality of digital assets; depositing a third digital asset into a digital storage component associated with the user device, the third digital asset being based on an attribute associated with the user device; and depositing a fourth digital asset into a second digital storage component associated with the second user device, the third digital asset and a fourth digital asset being deposited based on the third digital asset and the second digital asset, the fourth digital asset being based on an attribute associated with the second user device; and A non-transitory computer-readable medium, the digital assets having different visual characteristics, the non-transitory computer-readable medium providing information related to a visual characteristic selected by an operation of a user device.

14. A program executed by a computer, the program code including: activating, on a distributed node system, digital storage components in response to the user device connecting to the digital activation layer, the distributed node system including associations between the digital storage components; receiving, from a user device, a request for ownership of a digital asset of a plurality of digital assets, the distributed node system including a block that identifies an association between the digital asset and a physical product; subsequent to receiving a request for ownership of the digital asset, storing the digital asset in a digital storage component; receiving from a user device an action to perform on a digital asset; performing an action on the digital asset by the digital activation layer, the action being configured to delay or hasten the initiation of a second action related to the physical product, the second action being performed by a production subsystem, a shipping subsystem, or a purchasing subsystem included in a back-end system in communication with the digital activation layer; updating an ownership characteristic of the digital asset based on performing an action on the digital asset; a program executable to cause the computer to perform operations including Each digital asset in the plurality of digital assets is associated with a physical product; determining, by a back-end system, a scarcity attribute associated with the physical product; determining a number of the plurality of digital assets to generate based on the scarcity attribute; and generating a plurality of digital assets based on the determined number; and identifying a second user device among the plurality of user devices that owns a second digital asset among the plurality of digital assets; depositing a third digital asset into a digital storage component associated with the user device, the third digital asset being based on an attribute associated with the user device; and depositing a fourth digital asset into a second digital storage component associated with the second user device, the third digital asset and a fourth digital asset being deposited based on the third digital asset and the second digital asset, the fourth digital asset being based on an attribute associated with the second user device; and The program provides information related to a visual characteristic selected by operation of a user device, the visual characteristic being different from that possessed by the digital asset.

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