Nucleus Vision and the Future of Retail

The Nucleus Vision project began at Harvard in 2014. Billionaire Tim Draper, an early investor in both Tesla and Skype, is the primary backer of Nucleus Vision.

Nucleus Vision is aiming to revolutionize the retail consumer experience. The Nucleus Vision network is working to bridge the gap between online and in-store retail experience. Nucleus keeps a blockchain ledger which contains the data of all consumer purchase history online and in-store. As a consumer, you have the option to sell your data or restrict access, and thankfully this action is optional, as it is safe to assume most individuals do not want to keep a record of everything they have ever bought. This element of optional privacy is critical.

The Nucleus retail process is fairly simple: a customer walks into a store and their phone ID is recognized by a Nucleus ION sensor. This sensor will send a sms message to the consumer’s phone requesting permission to record their consumer data. If the consumer allows access they are paid in Ncash (Nucleus Token, designated as an ERC20 token). This token can be exchanged for Bitcoin or USD. The amount varies depending on time in-store and consumer purchases. Once the consumer allows permission, the store clerk has access to their data which will help retailers create a more personalized shopping experience. Once the consumer allows access the ION sensor also begins gathering consumer data. This data consists of ‘tracking customer visits, aisles browsed, paths taken in-store, favorite products and brands, and predicts future customer behavior in-store.’

The Nucleus system is not limited to one franchise or retail sector. Large corporate retailers such as Abercrombie, Target, and Walmart all have an economic incentive to share their consumer data on the Nucleus ledger. The exponential amount of data gathering will be incredibly valuable in helping corporations create the best possible retail experience. If mass adoption of Nucleus Vision occurred, the scale of impact could connect over 90 million stores globally.

Facebook and other social media platforms have monetized our data which consumers willingly surrendered. Now for the first time, consumers have the ability to monetize their own data to a network of retailers. While, the amount of Ncash a consumer receives for their data is still somewhat undetermined, it is promising to realize retailers and consumers have an economic incentive to share data throughout the Nucleus Vision network.

Retail is the primary use case for Nucleus Vision, but other use cases apply such as security, agriculture, healthcare, and smart homes and cities. It is certain that implementation could take years to develop and scale successfully. As of October 2017, Nucleus Vision was only active in 10 stores worldwide. While it did gather data on 30,000 instances of ‘unique consumer behavior’ it is unclear to the time frame of adoption. Most ICOs are unpredictable and soon become questionable investments. When analyzing Nucleus Vision, it is promising to see the project has quality commercials, a credible team, renown investors and partnerships, and various patents on their ION sensors.

Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor, this is not financial advice. Please do your own research and make objective decisions. This article is intended to educate readers on the ICO Nucleus Vision. The author does not currently own any Nucleus Tokens (Ncash). (6.18.18)