### Terms and Conditions
- [x] I agree to the [Grant Agreement](https://9ba4718…c-5c73-47c3-a024-4fc4e5278803.usrfiles.com/ugd/9ba471_f81ef4e4b5f040038350270590eb2e42.pdf) terms if funded
- [x] I agree to [Provide KYC information](https://9ba4718c-5c73-47c3-a024-4fc4e5278803.usrfiles.com/ugd/9ba471_7d9e73d16b584a61bae92282b208efc4.pdf) if funded above $50,000 USD
- [x] I agree to disclose conflicts of interest
- [x] I agree to adhere to the [Code of Conduct](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcg-code-of-conduct/41787) and [Communication Guidelines](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zcg-communication-guidelines/44284)
- [x] I understand all milestone deliverables will be validated and accepted by their intended users or their representatives, who will confirm that the deliverables meet the required quality, functionality, and usability for each user story.
- [x] I agree that for any new open-source software, I will create a `CONTRIBUTING.md` file that reflects the high standards of Zcash development, using the [`librustzcash` style guides](https://github.com/zcash/librustzcash/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#styleguides) as a primary reference.
- [x] I understand when contributing to existing Zcash code, I am required to adhere to the project specific contribution guidelines, paying close attention to any [merge](https://github.com/zcash/librustzcash/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#merge-workflow), [branch](https://github.com/zcash/librustzcash/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#branch-history), [pull request](https://github.com/zcash/librustzcash/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#pull-request-review), and [commit](https://github.com/zcash/librustzcash/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#commit-messages) guidelines as exemplified in the `librustzcash` repository.
- [x] I agree to post request details on the [Community Forum](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/c/grants/33)
- [x] I understand it is my responsibility to post a link to this issue on the [Zcash Community Forums](https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/c/grants/33) after this application has been submitted so the community can give input. I understand this is required in order for ZCG to discuss and vote on this grant application.
### Application Owners (@Octocat, @Octocat1)
@tufanaydinn, @omerfarukdev, @mrtufan28
### Organization Name
Zocial World
### How did you learn about Zcash Community Grants
Through the Zcash Community Forum and by following the Zcash ecosystem and community grant discussions while developing Zocial World.
### Requested Grant Amount (USD)
$45,000
### Category
Community
### Project Lead
```project-lead.yaml
Name: Tufan Aydın
Role: Project Lead, Technical Coordinator & Full-Stack Developer
Background: Lead developer and project coordinator of Zocial World. Responsible for the overall product direction, technical architecture, multiplayer and backend development, integrations, testing and validation.
Responsibilities: Leads the full project roadmap and coordinates the team. Develops and reviews multiplayer, backend and integration systems, contributes to frontend implementation, validates releases, coordinates testing, and ensures that the project's technical, privacy and product goals remain aligned.
```
### Additional Team Members
```team-members.yaml
- Name: Ömer Faruk Dirik
Role: Full-Stack Developer
Background: Full-stack developer working across frontend, backend and realtime application systems.
Responsibilities: Develops and improves backend and frontend features, realtime and multiplayer functionality, API integrations, UI systems, testing and technical maintenance. Works closely with the project lead on core product development and implementation.
- Name: Selin Melis Güçlü
Role: 3D Artist & World Designer
Background: 3D artist and environment designer focused on asset creation, scene composition and world building.
Responsibilities: Creates and integrates 3D assets, develops environments and locations, handles scene layout and prop placement, improves visual quality, and contributes to the overall visual identity and world design of Zocial World.
```
### Project Summary
Zocial World is an open-source, browser-based 3D social world for the Zcash ecosystem, combining community interaction, education, events, project discovery and privacy-preserving ZEC usage in one shared environment.
A public beta is already live, and this grant will fund the next phase of development focused on reliability, Learning Valley, Watch Hall, contributor collaboration, original world content, security and infrastructure.
### Project Description
Zocial World is an open-source, browser-based 3D social environment designed for the Zcash ecosystem.
The project brings together community interaction, privacy-preserving ZEC usage, education, events, project discovery and collaboration inside one shared experience. The goal is not to replace existing Zcash platforms such as the Zcash Community Forum, ZecHub or GitHub, but to provide an interactive layer that helps users discover and move between them more naturally.
A public beta is already live at https://play.zocialworld.com.
The current beta includes multiplayer presence, nickname-based social identity, text chat, proximity voice, moderation tools, Watch Hall presentations and screen sharing, Learning Valley, Zcash Forum and ZecHub content discovery, project discovery, and experimental private player-to-player ZEC transfers using in-world identities.
The project follows a privacy-first architecture. Social identity and financial identity are separated, wallet addresses are not exposed as public profile data, and the wallet architecture is designed so that keys remain under the user’s control in the browser.
The next development phase will focus on turning the current beta into a more reliable and useful ecosystem platform.
The main development goals are:
1. Expand Learning Valley with deeper Zcash education, real testnet practice, privacy visualizations, security exercises and contributor-focused learning paths.
2. Improve Watch Hall so it can support real Zcash community calls, project presentations, workshops, AMAs and future ecosystem events with better moderation, Q&A, polls, schedules and replay integration.
3. Expand project discovery and collaboration through project booths, contributor opportunities, team spaces, ZecHub bounty pathways and stronger Forum/GitHub integration.
4. Add more social and community features, including Tavern activities, table games, community events, persistent gathering spaces and cooperative learning experiences.
5. Develop selected original 3D assets and environments so that Zocial World gradually gains a stronger and more distinctive visual identity.
6. Improve infrastructure, performance, accessibility, mobile support and server capacity based on real beta usage.
7. Strengthen the project’s security and privacy posture through technical review, threat-model updates, testing and independent review where appropriate.
The long-term user journey we are building is:
Discover → Learn → Practice → Meet → Collaborate → Build → Contribute → Support
A new user should be able to enter Zocial World, learn how Zcash works, interact with the community, attend events, practise using Zcash tools, discover ecosystem projects and eventually contribute to or support them.
The public source repository is available at:
https://github.com/tufanaydinn/zocialworld
The current beta represents the foundation rather than the final scope of Zocial World.
Beyond the funded milestones, the architecture is designed to support future expansion into persistent team spaces, hackathon environments, community-created events, richer social districts, cooperative educational adventures, project funding spaces, community ceremonies, seasonal ecosystem events and additional social activities.
The intention is to build a persistent Zcash community environment that can gradually serve different stages of participation: learning, socializing, attending events, collaborating, building, contributing and supporting ecosystem projects.
Learning Valley will also include an AI-powered educational guide designed specifically for the Zcash ecosystem.
The goal is to provide users with an interactive tutor that can explain Zcash concepts from beginner to advanced levels, answer questions in context, guide users toward relevant Learning Valley modules, reference maintained ecosystem resources, and help users progress from basic understanding toward practical testnet and contributor activities.
The AI guide will not replace official documentation or community resources. Instead, it will act as an interactive navigation and learning layer that helps users understand where to go next and which resources are relevant to their questions.
The system will be grounded in curated Zcash resources such as Learning Valley content, ZecHub educational materials, official Zcash documentation and relevant project documentation. Rather than relying only on a general-purpose model, the guide will use a controlled knowledge layer so that answers can be tied to maintained ecosystem information.
The guide may also be represented as an in-world educational character or NPC, allowing users to interact with it naturally inside Learning Valley rather than using a separate external chatbot interface.
The current beta represents the foundation rather than the final scope of Zocial World.
Beyond the funded milestones, the architecture is designed to support future expansion into persistent team spaces, hackathon environments, community-created events, richer social districts, cooperative educational adventures, project funding spaces, community ceremonies, seasonal ecosystem events and additional social activities.
The intention is to build a persistent Zcash community environment that can gradually serve different stages of participation: learning, socializing, attending events, collaborating, building, contributing and supporting ecosystem projects.
### Proposed Problem
The Zcash ecosystem already has valuable resources, communities and tools, but they are distributed across many different platforms and are often difficult for new users to discover and connect.
A user may need to visit the Zcash Community Forum for discussions, ZecHub for educational material and bounties, GitHub for development opportunities, separate platforms for community calls and events, wallets for transactions, and different tools for testnet experimentation.
For experienced ecosystem participants this fragmentation is manageable, but for newcomers it creates a high barrier to understanding where to start, what to learn, which projects exist, how to meet contributors, and how to move from passive learning to real participation.
There is also no persistent shared environment that combines education, community interaction, ecosystem discovery, events and privacy-preserving ZEC usage in one place.
Zocial World addresses this fragmentation by creating a single browser-based entry point where users can discover the ecosystem, learn Zcash concepts, practise using Zcash, attend events, meet other community members, discover projects and contribution opportunities, and use ZEC without exposing wallet identity as part of their public social profile.
The value of Zocial World is not any single feature in isolation.
Its purpose is to connect activities that currently happen across separate parts of the Zcash ecosystem.
A user could enter through one browser link, meet community members, learn a Zcash concept, practise it on testnet, attend a project presentation, discover the related Forum discussion or ZecHub resource, find a contribution opportunity and eventually support a project using ZEC.
This creates a continuous path from curiosity to active ecosystem participation:
Discover → Learn → Practice → Meet → Collaborate → Build → Contribute → Support.
The existing public beta demonstrates that the core model is already technically feasible. The proposed grant would turn that foundation into a more reliable, secure and repeatable platform for real Zcash community use.
### Proposed Solution
Zocial World provides a persistent, browser-based 3D social layer for the Zcash ecosystem.
Instead of requiring users to discover every ecosystem resource separately, Zocial World connects education, community events, project discovery, contribution pathways and privacy-preserving ZEC usage inside one shared environment.
The solution is built around several connected systems:
- Learning Valley provides interactive Zcash education using a LEARN → SEE → TRY → PROVE model.
- Watch Hall provides a shared venue for talks, community calls, project demos and future ecosystem events.
- Project booths and discovery spaces help users find Zcash projects, repositories, Forum discussions and contributor opportunities.
- Multiplayer, proximity voice, chat and social areas make it possible for community members to meet and interact naturally.
-An AI Learning Guide will provide contextual Zcash education inside Learning Valley, helping users ask questions, understand concepts, navigate relevant lessons and discover maintained ecosystem resources without requiring prior knowledge of where that information is located. The AI Learning Guide will connect directly with the broader Learning Valley journey. A user may ask a question, receive an explanation, be directed to an interactive visualization, continue into a practical exercise or testnet activity, and eventually discover relevant ecosystem resources or contribution opportunities.
This creates an additional learning path:
Ask → Learn → Visualize → Practice → Verify → Contribute.
- Privacy-preserving player-to-player ZEC functionality allows users to experiment with real Zcash usage without turning wallet identity into public social identity.
- Future contributor systems will connect learners to ZecHub bounties, GitHub issues, team opportunities and project collaboration.
- Cooperative learning experiences will use game-based interaction to teach privacy, security, testnet and protocol concepts through practical challenges rather than passive reading.
The aim is to create a clearer journey from newcomer to active ecosystem participant:
Discover → Learn → Practice → Meet → Collaborate → Build → Contribute → Support.
The value of Zocial World is not any single feature in isolation.
Its purpose is to connect activities that currently happen across separate parts of the Zcash ecosystem.
A user could enter through one browser link, meet community members, learn a Zcash concept, practise it on testnet, attend a project presentation, discover the related Forum discussion or ZecHub resource, find a contribution opportunity and eventually support a project using ZEC.
This creates a continuous path from curiosity to active ecosystem participation:
Discover → Learn → Practice → Meet → Collaborate → Build → Contribute → Support.
The existing public beta demonstrates that the core model is already technically feasible. The proposed grant would turn that foundation into a more reliable, secure and repeatable platform for real Zcash community use.
### Solution Format
The solution will be delivered as open-source software, hosted public beta services, interactive educational content, event and collaboration features, privacy/security documentation, and production-ready improvements to the existing Zocial World platform.
The main deliverables will include:
- improvements to the browser-based 3D client and multiplayer systems
- expanded Learning Valley modules and interactive learning experiences
- real testnet practice and verification workflows
- Watch Hall event and presentation improvements
- project booths, contributor discovery and collaboration features
- ZecHub, Zcash Forum and GitHub ecosystem integrations
- mobile, accessibility and performance improvements
- original 3D assets and environment content for key locations
- infrastructure and server improvements
- security, privacy and threat-model updates
- community testing and public milestone reports
The public software components developed under the grant will be released under the MIT license in the Zocial World open-source repository.
### Dependencies
Zocial World is already operational and does not depend on any single external organization in order to continue development.
The project does, however, rely on several technical and ecosystem components:
Technical dependencies:
- modern web browsers with WebGL/WebRTC support
- TypeScript, Three.js and Vite for the browser client
- Node.js for backend services
- WebSocket-based multiplayer infrastructure
- LiveKit for proximity voice and Watch Hall realtime media
- Zcash network infrastructure and lightwalletd-compatible access for wallet functionality
- standard VPS/cloud infrastructure for hosting, realtime services, storage and backups
Ecosystem dependencies:
- public Zcash Community Forum content
- ZecHub educational resources and bounty/project information
- public GitHub repositories and project metadata
- Zcash testnet infrastructure for future hands-on educational exercises
Where integrations depend on third-party services or community resources, Zocial World is designed to degrade gracefully rather than making the entire platform unavailable.
No exclusive partnership or external approval is required for the core project to function. Collaboration with Zcash ecosystem teams, ZecHub contributors, project teams and event organizers will improve the usefulness and reach of the platform but is not a technical blocker.
### Technical Approach
Zocial World uses a browser-first architecture designed around modularity, privacy and incremental scaling.
The client is built with TypeScript, Three.js and Vite. It handles 3D rendering, movement, interaction, UI, world navigation, Learning Valley content, Watch Hall interfaces and wallet-facing client logic.
The backend is built with Node.js and provides multiplayer presence, chat, realtime coordination, content gateway services, moderation functions, event state and server-side integrations.
Realtime multiplayer communication uses WebSockets. Voice and screen sharing are handled separately through LiveKit/WebRTC rather than the gameplay WebSocket, allowing media traffic to scale independently from game state.
The architecture intentionally separates social identity from financial identity. Public nicknames are not designed to expose wallet addresses or balances. Wallet keys remain client-side, and privacy-sensitive systems are documented through threat models and architecture decision records.
The project also separates reusable software systems from production world content. The public repository contains the core application systems, protocols, tests, documentation and sample content, while original production world layouts and selected artwork are maintained separately.
For Learning Valley, the implementation follows a LEARN → SEE → TRY → PROVE structure. Lessons can combine explanations, visualizations, quizzes, simulations, practical exercises and future testnet verification.
For testnet education, we plan to introduce privacy-preserving verification flows where users can complete real network actions without requiring their public social identity to be permanently linked to wallet addresses.
For performance, the project uses adaptive rendering quality, optimized assets, instancing where appropriate, limited lighting budgets and progressive content loading. During the grant period, real-device performance measurements will guide optimization and infrastructure decisions.
For infrastructure, the initial deployment will continue using cost-efficient self-hosted services where practical. Realtime media, backend services and static delivery can be scaled independently if usage increases.
All grant-funded public software work will remain MIT licensed and will be developed with tests, documentation, contribution guidelines and security reporting processes.
### Upstream Merge Opportunities
Zocial World does not currently fork or modify any upstream Zcash protocol or core node repository.
The project integrates with Zcash infrastructure through standard interfaces and builds its own application-layer systems on top of the ecosystem.
Because of this, there are no planned upstream merge requests into zcashd, Zebra or other core Zcash protocol repositories as part of this grant.
If the project produces reusable integration components, educational tooling or wallet-adjacent utilities that are useful to the wider ecosystem, we will evaluate publishing them as standalone open-source components or contributing them upstream where technically appropriate and welcomed by maintainers.
### Open Source License
MIT
### Hardware/Software Costs (USD)
$5,000
### Hardware/Software Justification
This budget covers the technical infrastructure and software resources required to operate and improve the public beta during the grant period.
Planned costs include:
- VPS and server capacity for the application backend, multiplayer services and realtime media
- bandwidth and storage
- backups and monitoring
- staging and test environments
- domain and operational hosting costs
- asset production and development tools where required
- performance testing and deployment-related software services
The project will continue to prefer cost-efficient and self-hosted infrastructure where practical. Additional infrastructure will only be purchased when real usage and performance measurements justify the need.
This category does not include team compensation or independent security review costs, which are accounted for separately in the project budget.
### Service Costs (USD)
$5,000
### Service Costs Justification
This budget is reserved primarily for independent security, privacy and technical review of the systems developed during the grant period.
Because Zocial World includes wallet functionality, realtime communication and privacy-sensitive social systems, external review is an important part of moving the current beta toward a more mature public service.
The service budget may cover:
- independent wallet/security review
- privacy and threat-model review
- targeted penetration or application security testing
- specialist testing of realtime/media infrastructure where required
- accessibility or cross-browser testing support where specialist review is useful
Any external service expenditure will be tied directly to grant deliverables. The team will perform the core software development, 3D production and product work internally.
### Compensation Costs (USD)
$35,000
### Compensation Costs Justification
The project will be developed by a three-person core team over approximately four months.
Team responsibilities are divided as follows:
- Tufan Aydın — Project Lead, Technical Coordinator & Full-Stack Developer. Responsible for project coordination, architecture, multiplayer/backend development, integrations, implementation review, testing and release validation.
- Ömer Faruk Dirik — Full-Stack Developer. Responsible for frontend and backend feature development, realtime systems, integrations, UI functionality, testing and technical maintenance.
- Selin Melis Güçlü — 3D Artist & World Designer. Responsible for 3D asset creation, environment development, scene composition, world building and visual production.
The $35,000 compensation budget covers the development time required to deliver the four grant milestones across engineering, 3D production, testing, documentation, integration and project coordination.
Compensation will be tied to milestone delivery rather than treated as an upfront payment.
### Total Budget (USD)
$45,000
### Previous Funding
No
### Previous Funding Details
_No response_
### Other Funding Sources
No
### Other Funding Sources Details
_No response_
### Implementation Risks
The project already has a working public beta, which reduces implementation risk, but several challenges remain.
1. Realtime scalability
Multiplayer presence, proximity voice and Watch Hall screen sharing can become resource-intensive as concurrent participation increases.
Mitigation:
We will measure real usage, perform load testing and scale realtime media and application services independently when necessary.
2. Browser and device performance
A browser-based 3D environment must support devices with significantly different graphics capabilities.
Mitigation:
We use adaptive rendering, optimized assets, instancing, controlled lighting budgets and progressive performance testing. Mobile and lower-performance device support will be improved incrementally.
3. Wallet and privacy risk
Zocial World includes experimental wallet functionality and player-to-player ZEC transfers. Wallet, identity and privacy mistakes could have serious consequences.
Mitigation:
Wallet functionality will remain clearly marked as beta, transaction limits and explicit confirmations will remain in place where appropriate, keys remain client-side, threat models are maintained, and part of the grant budget is reserved for independent security/privacy review.
4. Scope risk
The long-term Zocial World vision contains many possible features.
Mitigation:
The grant is divided into four bounded milestones. Major future concepts such as larger social districts, advanced cooperative experiences and broader event infrastructure will only be implemented to the specific scope defined in the milestones rather than attempting to complete the entire long-term roadmap during this grant.
5. External integration changes
ZecHub, Forum, GitHub or Zcash infrastructure interfaces may change.
Mitigation:
External integrations are modular and designed to fail gracefully. Core world, social and learning functionality will not depend on a single external content source being continuously available.
6. Community adoption
A technically successful platform still needs real users and useful community activity.
Mitigation:
The public beta is being opened early so that development can incorporate real feedback. Each milestone includes community testing, and Watch Hall/project features will be validated through real ecosystem use cases rather than only internal demonstrations.
### Potential Side Effects
The main potential negative side effects are related to privacy expectations, financial risk, moderation and complexity.
Financial features could cause users to treat an experimental beta wallet as production-ready. We mitigate this with clear beta warnings, transaction limits where appropriate, explicit user confirmation and continued security review.
Social and realtime systems can introduce harassment, spam or abuse. The platform therefore includes moderation, reporting, mute and block tools, and these controls will continue to be strengthened.
Adding too many systems could also make onboarding confusing. New features will be introduced through guided user journeys and progressive discovery rather than exposing every capability at once.
Privacy-sensitive metrics will be designed around aggregate product usage rather than building detailed user profiles. We do not intend to make wallet balances, payment addresses or transaction histories part of a player's public social identity.
Finally, Zocial World is intended to complement the Zcash Forum, ZecHub, GitHub and other ecosystem resources, not replace them. Integrations will direct users toward these existing platforms rather than creating unnecessary competing silos.
### Success Metrics
Success will be evaluated through both technical delivery and real community usage.
Product and reliability metrics:
- all four grant milestones completed and publicly demonstrated
- defined browser/device compatibility tested
- measurable performance improvements from the current beta
- critical bugs identified during beta testing resolved
- no unresolved critical findings within the agreed scope of the independent security/privacy review
Learning metrics:
- expanded Learning Valley modules deployed
- a complete testnet learning journey available
- successful completion of real testnet exercises by beta users
- usage and completion of interactive learning experiences measured using privacy-conscious aggregate metrics
Community and event metrics:
- real Watch Hall community events or project presentations hosted
- participant feedback collected after events
- ecosystem projects represented through project/discovery features
- use of contributor or project discovery pathways
Open-source metrics:
- grant-funded public software published in the Zocial World repository
- documentation and tests updated alongside new systems
- community issues, pull requests or external contributions tracked where they occur
Social/ZEC usage metrics:
- aggregate player-to-player ZEC transaction activity
- use of project support functionality where deployed
- returning beta sessions and engagement with social spaces
We will avoid invasive analytics. Success metrics will focus on aggregate product usage and completed actions rather than unnecessary tracking of individual users, wallet addresses or financial identities.
### Startup Funding (USD)
$0
### Startup Funding Justification
No startup funding is requested.
Zocial World already has a working public beta, public open-source repository and existing development infrastructure. The team will continue development using the current environment and requests payment through milestone completion rather than an upfront startup payment.
### Milestone Details
```milestones.yaml
- Milestone: 1 — Public Beta Hardening & Community Events
Amount (USD): 10000
Expected Completion Date: 2026-11-30
User Stories:
- "As a new user, I want a clear onboarding experience so that I can understand how to enter, navigate and use Zocial World."
- "As a community member, I want reliable multiplayer, voice and Watch Hall functionality so that I can participate in Zcash community activities without unnecessary technical friction."
- "As an event organizer or speaker, I want practical audience interaction tools so that presentations and community calls can be hosted inside the world."
- "As a user on a lower-performance device or mobile device, I want better compatibility and performance so that I can access the experience more reliably."
Deliverables:
- Stabilize the existing public beta and resolve prioritized bugs reported by users.
- Improve onboarding, navigation and first-session guidance.
- Improve Watch Hall reliability for screen sharing, voice, audience seating, reactions and stage interactions.
- Add the first version of audience Q&A and/or polling functionality.
- Improve event schedules and presentation workflows.
- Implement the foundation for mobile and touch controls.
- Perform cross-browser testing and address major compatibility issues.
- Perform real-device performance profiling and optimization.
- Improve server monitoring, deployment reliability and operational infrastructure.
- Establish a structured community feedback and bug-reporting process.
- Conduct at least one real community call, project presentation or pilot event in Watch Hall with external participants.
Acceptance Criteria:
- The updated public beta is deployed and publicly accessible.
- Core onboarding, multiplayer, chat, voice and Watch Hall flows successfully pass documented regression testing.
- Performance results are documented for representative devices and at least one lower-performance configuration.
- At least one real Watch Hall pilot event is completed with external participants.
- Feedback from the pilot is collected and the resulting issues are documented.
- Grant-funded public software changes, tests and relevant documentation are published in the open-source Zocial World repository.
- Milestone: 2 — Learning Valley, Testnet Academy & Interactive Education
Amount (USD): 12000
Expected Completion Date: 2026-12-31
User Stories:
- "As a newcomer, I want to learn Zcash concepts interactively so that I can understand privacy and shielded transactions without relying only on documentation."
- "As a learner, I want to practise real Zcash actions on testnet so that I can gain practical experience without risking meaningful funds."
- "As a technically curious user, I want interactive visualizations and simulations so that I can understand concepts such as shielded transactions, privacy, confirmations and zk-SNARK-related ideas."
- "As a learner who completes educational content, I want to discover relevant ecosystem resources and contribution opportunities so that learning can lead to real participation."
Deliverables:
- Expand Learning Valley with additional Zcash educational modules.
- Build the first version of an AI Learning Guide for Learning Valley focused on Zcash ecosystem education.
- Ground the guide in curated Zcash educational sources, including Learning Valley content, ZecHub resources, official Zcash documentation and relevant project documentation.
- Allow users to ask contextual questions and receive explanations appropriate to their learning level.
- Connect AI guidance with relevant Learning Valley lessons, visualizations, testnet exercises and external ecosystem resources.
- Allow the AI Learning Guide to recommend the next appropriate learning step based on the user's current question or learning context.
- Add safeguards for outdated information, unsupported claims, security-sensitive wallet questions and financial-advice-like requests.
- Clearly indicate when an answer cannot be verified from the guide's available knowledge sources.
- Integrate the guide into the Learning Valley experience as an in-world educational assistant or NPC where technically appropriate.
- Add a real Testnet Academy flow for hands-on Zcash practice.
- Support practical exercises such as receiving test funds, sending test transactions, observing confirmations and understanding transaction lifecycle.
- Add or improve privacy visualizations comparing transparent and shielded information exposure.
- Expand wallet safety and security-oriented learning.
- Add a developer/contributor-oriented learning path.
- Integrate relevant ZecHub educational resources into learning journeys where appropriate.
- Build the first cooperative educational adventure prototype, focused on privacy/security concepts ("Privacy Dungeon").
- Introduce a privacy-preserving verification approach for selected testnet exercises without requiring permanent public linkage between a player's social identity and wallet address.
- Improve Learning Valley progression, prerequisites and completion feedback.
Acceptance Criteria:
- A complete Learning Valley learning path is publicly accessible in the beta.
- A working AI Learning Guide is available inside Learning Valley.
- The guide can answer a defined test set of Zcash educational questions using curated ecosystem sources.
- The guide can direct users toward relevant Learning Valley modules, visualizations, testnet exercises or external Zcash resources.
- The system is tested against hallucination, outdated-information and security-sensitive prompt scenarios.
- The guide clearly indicates when information cannot be verified from its available sources.
- At least one complete learning flow is demonstrated in which a user moves from an AI-guided question to a Learning Valley lesson or practical exercise.
- Users can complete at least one real testnet exercise from beginning to verification.
- The testnet flow is successfully completed by external beta users.
- Interactive privacy or transaction visualizations are deployed and usable.
- The Privacy Dungeon or equivalent cooperative educational prototype is publicly demonstrated.
- Relevant tests and documentation for new public systems are added to the open-source repository.
- Community feedback from Learning Valley/testnet testing is documented.
- Milestone: 3 — Builders, Project Discovery & Collaboration
Amount (USD): 11000
Expected Completion Date: 2027-01-31
User Stories:
- "As a Zcash ecosystem project, I want a discoverable project space so that users can learn about our work, repository and contribution opportunities."
- "As a developer or contributor, I want to discover open roles, bounties and beginner-friendly tasks so that I can find ways to participate in the Zcash ecosystem."
- "As a project team, I want a shared collaboration space so that team members can meet, present work and coordinate inside the world."
- "As a community member, I want to support projects using ZEC without exposing my financial identity as part of my public social profile."
- "As a returning user, I want to quickly see current ecosystem activity so that I understand what is happening in Zcash."
Deliverables:
- Expand project booths and project discovery functionality.
- Allow project spaces to surface project descriptions, links, repositories, Forum discussions and contributor information.
- Add developer/contributor opportunity listings.
- Create pathways from Zocial World to relevant ZecHub bounties and GitHub contribution opportunities.
- Build the first version of private/team collaboration rooms with appropriate shared interaction functionality.
- Add a Town Notice Board for selected ecosystem activity such as events, project updates, open bounties or relevant discussions.
- Improve Zcash Community Forum and ZecHub discovery/integration.
- Improve project support functionality using privacy-preserving ZEC payments where appropriate.
- Build the foundation of a Contributor Passport that can represent educational or contribution achievements without exposing wallet balances or public transaction history.
- Pilot project spaces with real Zcash ecosystem projects where participation is available.
Acceptance Criteria:
- Project discovery and project booth functionality is publicly accessible.
- Multiple real or representative Zcash ecosystem projects can be browsed through the new project experience.
- At least one contributor pathway successfully connects a user from Zocial World to a real external opportunity such as a ZecHub bounty, GitHub issue or project contribution page.
- A working team-room/collaboration prototype is demonstrated.
- Town Notice Board functionality is deployed.
- Project support functionality preserves the defined separation between public social identity and wallet/payment identity.
- External users or project representatives test the new collaboration/discovery features and feedback is documented.
- Public grant-funded systems, tests and documentation are published in the open-source repository.
- Milestone: 4 — Security, Original Art, Accessibility & Production Readiness
Amount (USD): 12000
Expected Completion Date: 2027-02-28
User Stories:
- "As a user, I want confidence that privacy-sensitive and wallet-related systems have received additional security review."
- "As a community member, I want a more polished and distinctive world so that the experience feels like a coherent Zcash community environment rather than a technical prototype."
- "As a user with different accessibility or hardware needs, I want improved compatibility and accessibility so that I can participate more easily."
- "As a community organizer, I want a more production-ready environment so that real Zcash events and social activities can be hosted reliably."
- "As a returning community member, I want lightweight social activities so that the world provides reasons to stay and interact outside formal events."
Deliverables:
- Conduct an independent security/privacy review of agreed wallet, identity or privacy-sensitive components.
- Address critical findings within the agreed review scope before milestone completion.
- Update relevant threat models, security documentation and architecture notes.
- Improve server and realtime infrastructure based on measured public-beta usage.
- Improve backup, monitoring and operational reliability.
- Improve accessibility, keyboard usability, reduced-motion support and other practical accessibility areas where applicable.
- Continue mobile/touch and cross-browser hardening.
- Create and deploy selected original Zocial World 3D assets and environment elements for major locations such as Learning Valley, Watch Hall, the central social area or project spaces.
- Improve overall environment composition and visual identity.
- Add at least one lightweight social/table-game experience such as chess or another suitable shared activity.
- Conduct a final community event, presentation or public testing session demonstrating the funded development.
- Publish a final grant report covering completed deliverables, known limitations, community feedback, usage metrics and the next-stage roadmap.
Acceptance Criteria:
- Independent review output or an appropriate public summary of the review is provided, excluding details that would create security risk.
- No unresolved critical security findings remain within the agreed review scope.
- Updated privacy/security documentation is published where appropriate.
- Selected original production assets are deployed in the hosted world.
- Accessibility and device/browser improvements are demonstrated and documented.
- At least one social activity beyond chat/voice is publicly usable.
- A final real community event or public testing session is completed.
- A public final report summarizes milestone delivery, privacy-conscious aggregate metrics, user feedback and remaining work.
- All grant-funded public software deliverables are available in the open-source repository under the agreed license.
```
### Supporting Documents
```files.yaml
- Public Beta: https://play.zocialworld.com
Live public beta of Zocial World, including multiplayer, Watch Hall, Learning Valley and player-to-player ZEC functionality.
- Public Open-Source Repository: https://github.com/tufanaydinn/zocialworld
Contains the open-source application systems, multiplayer protocols, Watch Hall and Learning Valley frameworks, privacy/security documentation, tests, contribution guidelines and roadmap.
- Zcash Community Forum Development Thread: https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zocialworld-an-open-source-social-world-for-the-zcash-ecosystem/58033/4
Documents the public development history of Zocial World, including project progress, community-facing updates and the public beta announcement.
- Project Website: https://zocialworld.com
Public project website and entry point for Zocial World.
- Technical documentation is available in the public repository, including architecture documentation, Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), privacy threat models, SECURITY.md, CONTRIBUTING.md and ROADMAP.md.
```