Article written by Chris Tyler and Eric Golden. Visit us at https://regestra.com
Artwork by Karlie Rosin
Overview
Regestra is developing a social network platform that empowers artists to market themselves and art lovers to discover new artists. Artists will have the ability to use this unique social network platform to build loyalty and branding around their artwork and educate prospective buyers on their craft. Prior to being allowed to publish artwork, artists will go through a rigorous verification by Regestra. Verified artists will have the ability to post their artwork into their gallery, create social networks with other artists and buyers, and create commentary around their artwork. Other art focused websites allow artists to post artwork and commentary, but do not provide verification of artists or certification of authenticity of artwork. These capabilities found on Regestra provide unique value in the online art market.
Artwork Identification
Through Regestra, artists can provide buyers with a certificate of authenticity created using data from a specialized, handheld infrared spectrometer developed by Regestra for the art market. The infrared spectrometer technology captures the molecular composition of the artwork. The machine learning models analyze the molecular composition of the artwork and create a unique identifier for each piece of art. When scanned again, the artwork can be verified to match the same molecular composition and therefore verified as authentic.
Blockchain Authentication
Regestra will store and manage the artwork unique identifier, and other relevant artwork data using Regestra blockchain. The Regestra blockchain will provide a secure, immutable, historical record of authenticity. The features of blockchain have been proven to provide trust and transparency to many industries and business processes. Regestra blockchain will provide trust to buyers that the current molecular scan matches the original scan, and therefore the artwork is authentic.
Blockchain Ownership Rights
The artist can provide an ownership certificate to the buyer. Like a car title, the ownership certificates will provide proof that the holder of the certificate maintains current ownership rights to the artwork. Ownership certificates and any ownership transfers will be tracked on the Regestra blockchain. Tracking changes is a benefit to all parties involved because in addition artists can collect royalties due each time their artwork is sold. Owners who sell the art on secondary markets can prove that they are the rightful owners and prove authenticity. Buyers can be transferred the ownership certificate and therefore have rights to the verification of authenticity for the next buyer.
Summary
Regestra will leverage some existing technologies such as blockchain and infrared spectrometry, but Regestra is building an innovative application of the technologies. Regestra is creating a specialized handheld infrared spectrometer that can uniquely identify artwork, providing trust in purchasing art. This service is usually only found in multi-million-dollar transactions at large auction houses or galleries. Tracking ownership changes and provenance through blockchain provides unique value to artists that they can’t get anywhere else.
