Exploring new technologies

My connection with digital physics

While working for Google in Silicon Valley (USA), Huy Nguyen returned to Vietnam right during the COVID-19 pandemic and found his calling in Vietnam. With early experience in blockchain technology from years working in various countries around the world , in 2020, Huy Nguyen co-founded a blockchain-based start-up.

In 2021, this start-up began launching several solutions related to blockchain technology. In October 2023, Phygital Labs was founded with its Nomion digital physics solution, followed by a race to integrate digital physics into applications and explore the market.

Huy Nguyen explains that "phygital" is a relatively new concept worldwide, combining physical and digital products. It's a solution for transitioning the real world to the digital space, aiming to create new value in the digital realm from real-world data and assets.

Phygital Labs' core solution is Nomion – formed by applying RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and blockchain technology to connect physical products with the digital world, thereby creating valuable digital products and ensuring the transparency and uniqueness of products in both the physical and digital realms.

Simultaneously, the Physital Labs ecosystem applies LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and VR/AR (virtual reality, augmented reality) technologies. Thus, Nomion identifies physical products, even intangible ones, and creates unique digital products, bringing them to the digital space. This provides a visually immersive product experience with a compelling story about the product's history, making both physical and digital products easily accessible to global customers.

Explaining how the Nomion solution creates digital value in real life, Huy Nguyen gave the example that customers who want to buy goods sold in India or Egypt have to go there in person, whereas if they buy them on e-commerce platforms or online websites.

It is very difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake products. Having a digital ecosystem, where products acquire digital identity, will significantly increase their value. Product value can increase five to seven times because it is a product with a verified identity and the reputation of its owner, guaranteed by digital identification.

"The Nomion solution not only identifies objects but also cultural products, spaces, architecture, etc., to create a new revenue stream and increase the value of real-world products," Huy Nguyen emphasized.

The Nomion solution has contributed to increasing the product value by 50% for Le J' – a specialty coffee brand established in 2018 under The Le's Brothers Coffee Corporation. Before the chip was installed, each bag of specialty coffee cost 800,000 VND/200g. After the chip installation and identification process, the unique story of the farm with over 10 hectares cultivating coffee of exceptional quality quickly spread globally. Immediately afterward, the product value of the Le J' coffee brand increased and it was sold for 1.2 million VND/200g. Similarly, Ortho, one of the pioneering digital fashion brands, applied the Nomion solution to its Starlight sweater collection, allowing owners to embroider their own NFTs.

The 3D-printed frame on the sweater, along with the embedded chip, creates a unique product… 300 limited-edition Ortho Starlight sweaters sold out within 24 hours at $660 each.

"For the Vietnamese market, unique Vietnamese handicrafts alone constitute a huge 'warehouse' to reach the world through physical and digital channels, delivering exceptional value," said Huy Nguyen.

Vietnamese products must be sold at a higher price.

Since the beginning of 2023, Huy Nguyen's team has been tirelessly traveling to many provinces and cities across the country to talk about digital identification, physical identification, and the benefits of applying this technology. It wasn't easy to convince potential partners to understand, believe in, and accept this new business model, but through perseverance, Phygital Labs has now partnered with the Non Nuoc stone carving village ( Da Nang ) to digitally identify handicraft products; and collaborated with several organizations in Hue to identify ancient artifacts…

"To make it easier to visualize, I'm willing to create a prototype, attach a chip, and build a landing page for the product so customers can experience it beforehand without charging any fees. This will help Physital Labs spread its product," said Huy Nguyen.

Speaking about his reasons for choosing to start his business in Vietnam, Huy Nguyen frankly stated that if he were to develop Phygital Labs in the US, the opportunities would be lower for those in Silicon Valley, where there is a lot of competition and they are already very knowledgeable about technology. Meanwhile, it can be said that in Vietnam, at this point, Phygital Labs is the only one.

"In the Nomion solution, the chip is one of the components connecting the physical product to the digital world. Previous generations of semiconductor chips did not integrate with blockchain because they were quite weak. Only recently have researchers developed powerful new chips for digital connectivity. Phygital Labs integrates blockchain technology solutions onto its chips and has built its own blockchain infrastructure, along with VR, AR, metaverse technologies, etc., to develop physical-to-digital products. Thus, Phygital Labs is one of the first companies to follow this path," the young CEO explained.

The Phygital Labs team is on a journey to connect a digitally transformed Vietnam with the world. Huy Nguyen believes that digital technology is the gateway that helps the company connect with the world and bring Vietnamese products to the global market. According to Huy Nguyen, in developed countries, cultural assets have been properly valued and thus increase over time, driven by demand… Meanwhile, purely Vietnamese products are not properly valued, and are even undervalued compared to their true worth. Therefore, Phygital Labs is part of a value chain that brings Vietnamese products to their true value and then increases that value through digital identity. He believes he can bring a leap in value to Vietnamese products.

After Vietnam, this technology company is targeting the Southeast Asian market. This is a market with a large population and a high level of technology adoption. "Many investors in Silicon Valley really like the company's model and have expressed interest in investing, but I want to build Physital Labs myself for at least another two years. Later, if needed, we will proceed with fundraising," said Huy Nguyen.

The CEO of Phygital Labs acknowledges that starting a business in a field that is completely new in Vietnam presents numerous challenges but also many advantages. Previously, when Grab and many other technology services first emerged, few people imagined they would become as familiar and essential to daily life as they are today. Nomion technology, or Phygital Labs, specializing in digital identification and increasing the value of real products through digital physical processes, can achieve the same. According to him, Vietnam's advantage lies in its many products and heritage items that have yet to be identified. Therefore, in 2024, the company will focus on the Vietnamese market, bringing as many Vietnamese objects as possible into the digital space, forming a large segment in the digital economy.

"I want that in five years, Physital Labs will become a global highlight, and people will remember that Vietnam has companies that can create products that keep up with and keep pace with the digital world."

(Huy Nguyen, CEO of Physital Labs)

Source: https://nld.com.vn/khai-pha-cong-nghe-moi-196240205143045763.htm