2023-aug

Innovation Lab Monthly Report - August 2023 §

Waku Objects Prototype §

The Innovation Lab team is currently working on the Waku Objects prototype, a modular system for transactional chat objects. Despite some slower progress due to vacations and team events in early August, significant advancements were made throughout the month.

Key Achievements §

1. Color System Release:

   • Released the first version of a color system as an npm package called Luminance.
   • Based on grayscale design and uses luminance for customization.
   • Available for testing in the Playground app.

2. Group Chat Support:

   • Completed and merged the implementation for private group chat support.
   • Developed a custom “toy” group chat protocol implementation due to lack of readily available solutions.

3. Blockchain Integration:

   • Integrated support for Gnosis chain transactions.
   • Added support for xDai and Gno tokens, with easy expansion for other ERC-20 tokens.

4. New Domain Launch:

   • Registered and deployed the latest version to a new domain: wakuplay.im

Milestones §

1. Completed: Group Chat Support

   • Successfully implemented and merged group chat functionality.
   • Identified and addressed various issues that arose during the transition from 1-on-1 chats to group chats.

2. In Progress: Splitter Waku Object

   • Aims to support group chats and smart contracts.
   • Will be the first Waku Object meaningful in a group chat context.
   • Demonstrates the use of smart contracts and multiparty transactions.
   • Design completed and implementation started.

3. In Progress: Basic Waku Objects Website

   • Started work on the website structure.
   • Content development is progressing well.
   • Implementation of the website has begun.

Challenges and Learnings §

1. The team faced challenges in finding existing implementations for group chat protocols, leading to the development of a custom solution.
2. The transition from 1-on-1 chats to group chats revealed various issues with both Waku integration and from a product perspective.

Resources and Links §

• Deployed version: https://www.wakuplay.im/
• Main development repo: https://github.com/logos-innovation-lab/waku-objects-playground
• Grayscale design: https://grayscale.design/
• Luminance package on npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@waku-objects/luminance

Community Engagement §

The team is actively engaging with the community and welcomes feedback and contributions. They can be reached through:

• Discord channel: https://discord.com/channels/973324189794697286/1118949151225413872
• Discord invite link: https://discord.gg/eaYVgSUG

Looking Ahead §

The team is focused on completing the Splitter Waku Object and the basic Waku Objects website. These developments will showcase the capabilities of Waku Objects in group chat contexts and provide a central hub for information about the project.