Discover the groundbreaking role that artificial intelligence plays in revolutionizing the gaming landscape in this captivating podcast episode with Funsho Ajibade, CEO and Founder of Project Lambo. With his visionary expertise, will share insights into how AI technologies are enhancing game mechanics, graphics, player interactions, and more.

From AI-driven NPCs with advanced decision-making capabilities to machine learning algorithms that analyze player behavior, we'll uncover the myriad ways AI is reshaping the gaming industry. Tune in to witness how AI is unlocking the full potential of gaming and setting the stage for an exhilarating future of immersive experiences.

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Project Lambo - AI revolutionizing gaming experience

Participants:

• Nadja Bester (Co-founder of AdLunam)

• Funsho Ajibade (CEO and Founder of Project Lambo)

00:23

Nadja

Hey, web3 world. This is Nadja Bester from AdLunam, the all in one Web3 investment ecosystem empowering early stage projects. And you of course are listening to The Future of NFTs, the show that looks beyond current NFT use cases to what non fungible token technology is evolving into. All of this as seen through the eyes and built by the minds of the fascinating, absolutely fascinating guest speakers that we speak to each week. And as for AdLunam, from tokenomics to community growth, fundraising to IDO launches, and our unique Engage to Earn platform, we are transforming the way that investors experience the world of IDOs and dynamic NFTs. Through our monthly Web3 Pitch Arena, we are bridging the gap between innovative startups and venture capital. And a bit of a spoiler alert. If you watched our last Web3 Pitch Arena recording available on YouTube, you'll recognize today's guest as one of the startups who pitched our VCs.

01:25

Nadja

So be sure to go watch that if you like what you hear today. So whether you are tuning in for The Future of NFTs or Diving into Crypto, our sister show, AdLunam is not just predicting the future of Web3, we are actively building it. So let's get today's show. I am very excited to welcome Funsho Ajibade, the founder and CEO of Project Lambo. Now, Project Lambo is a company that is not just changing the game, but the entire playground. Project Lambo is reimagining virtual gaming in the Metaverse, introducing Immersive, AI and NFT, sharing and setting new standards for player experiences. So over the next hour, we will be exploring the genesis of Project Lambo, how it is harnessing AI for lifelike gaming, and how NFTs are reshaping the economics or economics at least of the gaming world. So we'll also be discussing the educational and the social impact potential of their platform and look to the future.

02:29

Nadja

What's next for Project Lambo and the gaming industry at large. So join us as we step into this exciting GameFi universe. I know that many of you love when we have GameFi guests on the show, metaverse guests on the show. So we'll be getting into a lot of that and let's get an exclusive glimpse into the future of gaming. Funsho, welcome to the show. Very happy to have you here with us today. So maybe let's get started just by a brief introduction of Project Lambo as well as yourself. And yeah, what's your vision that you are working on? Over to you.

03:06

Funsho

Well, firstly, I'd like to thank you for having me on today. Very excited to share Project Lambo and a little bit more about me. So my name's Funsho Ajibade. And I was born in Oxford, England, and since childhood, I've had this huge passion for technology and gaming. Over the past sort of three decades, I've noticed the drastic changes and evolution in the gaming space. So I'm talking about from the days of playing on a Commodore 64 and every single console you can imagine in between up until now. So with a more immersive digital experience that we're having today. So after the sort of experiencing and seeing how the online space can both positively and negatively impact people, including my own children, I was led to really leverage my kind of close to seven years now of experience with cryptocurrency and also my lifetime passion for technology to try and make a difference in the gaming industry with Project Lambo. So Raid Shadow Legends, more recently on mobile, but with a far stronger emphasis on AI powered immersion and also responsiveness.

04:44

Funsho

So a really good example of this is if you look at the likes of Minecraft and Roblox, they offer players a chance to engage with and alter the game environment. So Project Lambo is pushing this further by integrating artificial intelligence into the core mechanics of the game. So our vision is to create a game that adapts and reacts to the player's actions and decisions in real time, thereby actually creating an experience that's more immersive and interactive than any traditional games that are out there. And that's kind of the brainchild and a little bit about me Nadja.

05:31

Nadja

Perfect. Yeah, I think there's so much in there that we can get into today. So I'm almost overwhelmed with where to start. I think it's very interesting, this idea of adapting and reacting to players in real time. So maybe let's start there, because obviously, we are focused on the future of gaming. So if we think about who today's gamers are, as you were telling coming from the Commodore days, I mean, gaming has come a long way, and players have come a long way with it. The players of today are not the players of 20, 30 years ago. And likewise, of course, it's not going to look the same in future. So I'm curious, as a thought leader in the GameFi space, how did you foresee this convergence of gaming of NFTs and of AI when you first started Project Lambo? I love how kids are very often an inspiration, and I also love speaking to adults who were gamers when they were kids and then go on to build solutions.

06:36

Nadja

So I love this trajectory that you have and have had all of your life. But, yeah, I'm very curious how you kind of see how did you foresee oh, my God, I can't speak today. It's winter here, guys, so please bear with me. I'm freezing. So how did you foresee this convergence of these very hyped up technologies? On one hand, I mean, NFTs, of course, is Web3's darling. Gaming has always been with us, AI is the latest sort of innovation. How did you pull all of these elements together? And why did you foresee that this is going to be where the future of gaming is headed at the moment?

07:16

Funsho

I think that's a fantastic question, and I would need to go back just a little step from where you're talking about there, just to give you some context. So as a gamer, I have experienced all of the top games you can imagine, okay? I've played on every console you can imagine. I was addicted to the things, and I still am today. Right now, I've got three children, 15, 17 and 19 years old. I still play video games with them today. I really enjoy doing that. And this is a major part of why I'm doing what I'm doing, because I've seen the experiences. For me personally, I remember playing the Super Nintendo and having my friends come and knock on my door, and they'd have their own controllers, and we'd sit down and we'd play Street Fighter or we play Killer Instinct or we play Mario, whatever the games may be.

08:09

Funsho

And I know these people. I'm with them every day. I trust them, and we'd have a great time, and then they'd all go home. And what I've noticed with this progression in the gaming space is that technology has improved, graphics have improved, connectivity has improved, but actually, there's a lot that is really bad. And that's the reality of this. And I've experienced it firsthand. A lot of parents think that their children are sat at home upstairs on the computer, and they're fine. But the reality is not all of them are. In fact, the vast majority of them are struggling with different things. And I've seen this firsthand with my daughter, so this is a massive passion for me. My daughter was bullied at school. She was isolated from a friend group. And as a result, when she came home and wanted to play her favorite video games, which included Roblox and Fortnite, it was even worse.

09:07

Funsho

The bullying online. Unfortunately, kids can be extremely vicious online. They're worse online than they are to your face. And she went through a terrible time, and it affected her mental health, too. Now, around the same time that this was happening, I was actually massively involved in cryptocurrency investing, educating with We Coach Crypto, which still exists today. And that's something where we provide information to people to make sure that they're prepared before they walk into the crypto space. Investing, free content, all that kind of thing. So my job, day in, day out, was to look at what projects are out there, what the teams are like, what the technology is that exists. And what I started coming across, which blew my mind, was the Metaverse and GameFi and seeing these projects like Sandbox and Decentraland explode. And I just looked at it and thought, right, what are they doing right?

10:08

Funsho

What are they doing wrong? How can we improve upon this? And furthermore, how can we provide an environment that is secure and safe for children, for people with mental health problems, for adults, for people with social awkwardness? And that's where ChatGPT came into the frame for me. And we looked at how we can integrate that to create an environment that seems lifelike, that allows you to interact with different NPC characters. And that was kind of where it really changed for me Nadja.

10:46

Nadja

Absolutely love that. I love the richness behind the origin story because I think this is really something that drives a founder to bring their vision to life if they have the strong passion that they carry with them. And sounds like it, in your case, really something that you've carried with you all of your life. And as we've said, kids are huge motivations. So sorry for the experiences that your daughter has had, but for me as well, my son is 17 and gaming has always been a big part of his life. And I've seen the difference between sort of curating the communities I mean, himself curating the communities that he's part of, versus being part of this giant online world where, as you say, bullying online is sometimes even worse than bullying in person. So I want to get back to this mental health aspect, but before we get there, speaking of ChatGPT, we all know that this has been the buzzword that has taken the world by storm this entire year so far.

11:44

Nadja

So I'm curious in terms of the integration that you have with, I suppose, the ChatGPT API to enhance this gaming experience for players within Project Lambo. So can you talk a little bit more about what specific AI generated features contribute to these lifelike world, these character interactions with NPCs? How does that actually work?

12:08

Funsho

Yeah, of course. Look, the integration of ChatGPT API into Project Lambo is really akin to adding a level of complexity and unpredictability, more importantly, that you would find in sort of these massive multiplayer online games. So they're MMOs, so like World of Warcraft, but without the need for thousands of concurrent players. Now, a major problem in the space currently is Metaverse was this huge buzzword, and we've got these amazing technologies that we're integrating, and we believe it's the future, and I truly do believe it is the future, but the reality is that there aren't enough players, there aren't enough people there. So what can we do to create a game environment that feels like the game environments that they're currently in? And that's where ChatGPT comes into play with the NPC characters, because by having NPC characters, you can have as many of them as you want, but with ChatGPT, you can allow a human like interaction, conversation, and you can even go a step further.

13:23

Funsho

So if we think about kids today, the reality is that if we just very quickly touch on education. They don't like really going to school. That's the reality of it. But they love playing video games. That's their passion. They love to sit there playing video games and talk with their friends. So if you can't get that education to them in school and deliver it in an effective way, then why not have it drip fed in a gaming environment and actually reward them for interacting with it? And that's one of the other things that we're hugely passionate about. So the AI generated features, they contribute to creating lifelike worlds and interactions that actually react to player input, so much like how an environment or characters would react to players in a traditional MMO. We're just taking it a step further.

14:22

Nadja

Fantastic. So I can imagine that balancing the use of AI generated content with player creativity, with player freedom, especially if it's more a sandbox environment, can be challenging. So how do you with Project Lambo strike that balance to ensure that the experience of the game, of the player is both dynamic and immersive, as well as in keeping with the storyline that you have at Project Lambo? And maybe you can talk a little bit about the storyline. I was reading the sort of seed intro and it sounds extremely interesting. So I would love for you to also talk a little bit about that and what the world is actually like.

15:01

Funsho

Yeah, sure, no problem. So I'll come to your first part of the question first and sort of balancing the AI generated content with player creativity, I mean, that definitely is a challenge. It was a challenge for us when were initially looking at it, but I feel like the way Project Lambo strikes that balance is through, again, using that artificial intelligence, because that can provide a rich, dynamic, playground background environment while still allowing player actions to shape the game world itself and the storyline. What you've got to remember is when we're talking about artificial intelligence and ChatGPT, the question I ask is going to be different to the question that you ask. It's going to be different to the question that Evan Luther would ask. It'll be different to the question my son asked. So as a result, what you're actually creating here is a world where your experience and interaction as you play and go through the entire storyline is personal and unique to you.

16:06

Funsho

And I think that's really special and something that a lot of games can't offer. They throw in lots of different variables of different endings and different interactions, but artificial intelligence can take this to a completely different level. And the further along we go with this, what I truly believe will happen as well is the AI will actually start to understand the player and learn more about the player and be able to even interact with the player and ask how their day has been and help them out with their homework and translation and all sorts of other things. Almost become a friend. But what's very important at the same time is to make sure from our end that we are doing this safely and securely and ethically and moving on to the storyline aspect again. We thought it was really cool to make sure that we've got this epic storyline.

17:03

Funsho

We've brought in a fantastic writer who is extremely well versed in comic books as well. He's known online as Taekwondo crypto name's Logan. And we had a really good conversation with him because the way that we look at it is human beings can be very destructive. And went with this kind of post-apocalyptic approach where the world has been destroyed by human beings and we've actually got scientists that are left to try and recoup what is left of the human race and they realize that actually animals are far kinder to planet Earth than what humans are. And I actually believe this to be true. So they mix the two DNA samples to create something called genes. And these genes characters are what have been created off the back of that. So now we've got this really interesting approach where you've got animal DNA and the behavior of animals mixed in with human DNA and the behavior of humans.

18:12

Funsho

And the whole kind of plan and storyline is to shape and create this new world called feartopia. And there are so many twists and turns, it gives me a feel of like Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark feel to it. But I'm not going to give too much away. I don't want too many people to know. It's not one of those spoiler alert type situations, but that gives you a little bit of context of the storyline for you as well then, Nadja?

18:43

Nadja

Well, that storyline sounds fantastic. And you might just entice me to give up my protest of never playing games because I suck at it because that sounds like an amazing storyline. So, Funsho, I'm curious then. Obviously Project Lambo sets a new standard for gameplay experience, but how do you envision this technology shaping the future of virtual gaming and interactive entertainment in the context of Web3? Because there's often this talk about web3 is building products, gaming products specifically, but for audiences that are not necessarily interested in Web3 or know much about it. So if you are focused on a specific segment of gamers, which in this case very much sounds like you're targeting the younger generation, how do you see this kind of converging with the future of Web3 and the adoption thereof as well?

19:38

Funsho

Well, that's a great question. I think there's sort of three answers to that from my respect. I mean, first thing is the age demographic that we are targeting are the future of Web3. We need to remember that the children of today are the adults of tomorrow. So it's really important that we are giving them the tools that they need to express themselves with creativity, but also experience new and exciting ways to be able to interact with gaming. The second part is it's free to play. It's not going to cost anyone a penny. There's no barrier to entry. Of course we have NFTs and there are earning capabilities with it, but we're not putting a barrier to entry to people. We think that's so important because web2 is where the gamers are at and that's where the concentration needs to be. That's why we're building this on mobile and it's why we're making sure that it's something that people can play even on not the best kind of handsets that are out there.

20:44

Funsho

You don't need an iPhone 14 Promax to play with Project Lambo. We want to make sure everyone can play this no matter where they're from and what their financial position is, and give them an opportunity. But thirdly, it's the innovative use of the technology, particularly the incorporation of AI and NFTs that are going to help define the future of virtual gaming and gaming in general. We foresee more games adopting these technologies to provide immersive dynamic experiences and also to bridge that gap between these kind of virtual and real worlds and additionally by really allowing players to earn real world value. So we anticipate that games will increasingly become platforms for economic activity and social interaction and we want to be one of the people at the forefront offering that to the general public.

21:49

Nadja

Well, there is a lot to unpack there, but let's start with obviously my favorite topic, NFTs. So tell us a little bit more about how Project Lambo integrates NFTs into the gaming platform, the gaming experience, and really what benefits players in terms of the use of NFTs on the platform.

22:09

Funsho

Sure. So I think NFTs are the biggest fit for blockchain technology in my opinion. For gaming, without question. I think what they offer is unbelievable in terms of interoperability, provided people are smart about the way that they integrate it. So for us personally, the number one priority was to make sure that there was that free barrier to entry. But we also want to make sure that everyone gets to learn about what NFTs are, what the power of them can be. And by having an earning capability with our NFTs, by putting a rarity model in, by adding scarcity into the amount of NFTs that will be available, we felt that the best thing to do here is leave breadcrumbs. So I've watched this space for a long time and I've been in it for a long time and people try and break doors down and force things upon people and I just don't think it works.

23:20

Funsho

I don't think people are fully ready and I think that transitional period is going to take time. So you need to leave breadcrumbs in my opinion. So this is why we are building an education center within our gaming ecosystem so that people that want to come and find out information about Web3, about NFTs, about the interoperability of them and the use cases for them, they will be rewarded just for consuming that information. And the way they're rewarded is we have an in game Token. Now we've gone about setting up our Tokenomics in a very different way to most. So we have our governance token, sort of our stock token, if you will, if you're not someone that knows a lot about Tokenomics, and that is for people in our community to vote on major decision making. With the development and future of the project, we feel like we have to have the community's involvement in everything that we do.

24:18

Funsho

We feel that's paramount, something that a lot of the other gaming companies out there don't offer, especially in the traditional world. But I believe it's the future. And we also want to make sure that with the NFTs themselves, we're not locked to one particular area. What's your platform on? It's on Polygon, it's on Ethereum, it's on Solana, it's on Cosmos, Atom, whatever it may be. Interoperability for me is vital to the future success of the space. So we've set it up in a way where people can play the video game, they can play a series of games that we're creating, they can upgrade their characters skills and that actually takes place on the blockchain, but it can be a blockchain of their choice. So the community will guide us as to where these NFTs will be. We will have NFTs on Polygon, we'll have NFTs on Solana, we'll have NFTs on the BRC 20 ordinals whatever it may be.

25:24

Funsho

We want to make sure that there is interoperability, we're not locked to any place and we are guided by what our community wants and we have that availability there. But for our NFTs, I think the biggest benefit that people have is the utility that they bring. NFTs are revolutionizing gaming by giving players true ownership of their in game assets, rewarding their effort and dedication with tangible value. And that's a game changing benefit for the gaming community in my eyes.

26:02

Nadja

Absolutely. But I think what I find absolutely fascinating is really your dedication to making this democratic, this entire experience. Because so often when you think about the whole idea behind a game, I mean, the company developing it, they are the ones making all the major decisions. It's a very top down process. By the time it gets to the players, everything has already been laid out. And as a player, the only freedom that you really have and the power of decision making that you have is within the gameplay itself. So I would love to hear your thoughts on how in future gaming might not be this top down approach, but very much in keeping with your own philosophy at Project Lambo, how it's more of a collaborative experience between the players and the company. Do you think this is the way that things are going to head towards in future?

26:52

Funsho

I think that's a great question and it's tricky to answer, to be honest, Nadja, because I would love to see traditional gaming companies give up some of that power, but deep down in my heart, I just can't see that they're going to do that. And it's no different with the monetary system, same thing. People that have all the power, they don't want to give it away. The way that I look at it with what we're building is, of course, every single area of development of our team. If you go and look at our fully doxx team and look at the experience they've got and who they've worked with previously in the projects they've been on, it's huge. And we, of course, are going to take all of the advice into consideration prior to putting forward any decisions that we would like the community to have involvement with.

27:54

Funsho

Because ultimately the community, as much as we want them to be involved in every single decision that we make, don't always have the same level of skill or understanding or experience. But what we do understand from a gaming perspective, which is so important, is people that are playing the game, people that are interacting with all of the services and the tools that are available within this ecosystem that we're building. They're the best people to answer it. So if we don't listen to them, then what are we doing? You have to listen to your community and you do need to have your community's input. To me, that is something that I love about the crypto space and I always will do. I've never been involved in any community in my entire life that is more open and honest and friendly than the crypto space. Apart from the occasional bitcoin maxi, of course, but I joke aside, but yeah, it's something that we're really passionate about and we believe that we need to have that input from the community to make the best thing that we possibly can.

29:11

Nadja

So if we think about player attention and engagement, obviously this is something that every gaming company struggles with because like with every other industry, there is so much out there just like vying for people's attention. And if we think about this concept of the attention economy, I mean, it's just a mess out there. There's a million different things all trying to vying to get your attention and at the end of the day, it's this big ocean and you're just trying to be caught by one or other fishermen. So you have this learn to earn model. How does this play into player retention and engagement? You spoke about the educational aspect being very important to you. So how do you see education being not only a part of onboarding, but also this retention and engagement aspect of a gaming platform?

30:07

Funsho

Yeah, look, we're building an education center within the 3D gaming world. And the reason for that is we want to be able to provide resources to people that are interacting with our Project Lambo ecosystem to have all of the awareness and tools that they can. But furthermore, the more that we delved into that, we actually felt like this is a fantastic way subliminally to provide education to not just the younger generation, but also the older generation about blockchain technology and all of the amazing things that are inside it. So the more we can reward people for coming and interacting with that content, the more they can level up their NFT characters. And the more they can level up their NFT characters, the more I suppose the best word is valuable they can become in a third party perspective, for sale if they choose to sell their NFT character, the higher the stat, the more sought after it would be.

31:25

Funsho

So there's definitely a motivator there for people to want to interact with the education aspect. But I've been an educator in this space for years already, and I understand it's the difference between people that do well from an investing perspective and people that tend to not do well and think that the entire space is a scam because they've not been well equipped with the information that they need while walking into this space. And if we're going to be offering certain services and functionality within Project Lambo's ecosystem, we've got to be responsible about that and make sure that people are well informed, they understand how wallets work, they understand the different phishing emails and all the other things that come with as potential risks. It's very important to us to make sure that people have got what they need. Now, that alone should help with retention, because if we think about people that have come into the crypto space and have had a bad experience, they're probably not going to come back.

32:33

Funsho

And they're the ones that tend to automatically tar it with a certain name. If we can provide them with the right type of tools and education as they walk into an environment like this, then they are equipped, they understand it, they can flourish, and they can thrive in this space. So for retention, we feel that's something that could work extremely well. The other retention aspect, as I spoke about earlier, is the experience that they have in this environment as a whole. Unfortunately, some of the other projects that are in the space that are fantastic, and I'm not going to mention any names, but they're kind of desolate. There's not many people in that. And by having these NPC characters, we are able to always have a great experience that the gamers can have. And as our gaming audience continues to grow, that NPC amount can start to be reduced and it allows us to always keep that same experience within the environment itself.

33:42

Nadja

Absolutely brilliant. Yeah, I think this is something that. Everyone always uses as an argument against the metaverse, against sort of GameFi in the web3 space is the fact that you are there by yourself on a desert island and there's no one else around. So the use of AI definitely is going to revolutionize this aspect of gaming for sure. And I'm very happy to be speaking with you today and to hear the early inside workings of how a company like this is being built. So I want to get back to something that we touched on in the beginning, this idea of gaming behaviors on gaming platform sometimes being very toxic, and of course, it being a persistent problem that has come with us as part and parcel of being human. So how is Project Lambo utilizing AI, perhaps other tools to create this bully free gaming environment?

34:35

Nadja

Is it something that genuinely can be guaranteed? Or is the risk just lower than it would be with another platform?

34:43

Funsho

Great question. And this is one of the things that I love about what we're building as well. So the short answer is yes, we can guarantee it. And the way that we can guarantee it is because we are first and foremost coming out with the first version of this completely offline. So there's no way for people to be able to talk to other people online and experience that. And the way that we're working with ChatGPT's API to integrate that human like interaction, it will feel like they're online with all of their closest friends. ChatGPT will not be mean to you, it will not bully you, it will not be racist to you. And that, for me, is a massive tick in the box, not only for children, but for parents as well. But as we progress further down our roadmap, we do want to provide an online experience that is moderated through AI, where the moment anything bad, even attempts to be going on, it can identify it quickly and shut it down.

35:56

Funsho

Now, we're not ready for that yet, but we're working on it. And as AI continues to develop, I'm sure that even better solutions will come along. But it's something that we feel very strongly about and we believe that whoever it is that gets that first is going to have a game changer. But we're very proud to say that, yes, 100%, this is a one player game that is completely offline, that people can interact with, where they're not going to experience any form of bullying, racism, anything, but they're still going to feel like it's an online experience.

36:38

Nadja

Yeah, that certainly is a big selling point, especially for parents. I remember when my son was young, the fact that he was on Minecraft and unless he was playing on a server where there were all these variables and unknown other players, I always knew that it was safe. And that really gave me so much peace of mind. And I can imagine, as we go forward into the future of gaming that parents are going to continue to have these concerns and having a platform that really can guarantee a bully free experience is something incredible. But as you say along the line, you would like to also open it up so that players themselves can also interact. So what are your thoughts on what gaming and an environment such as this, such as Project Lambo can do to foster these connections between gamers, between individuals, from different walks of life all over the world?

37:32

Nadja

What is it that will draw them together into this immersive world where they have the ability to play it offline, but also then in future go online and kind of experience it together? What really is the power of a platform such as yours to bring people together under the game experience?

37:52

Funsho

I think it comes down to one word and that's community. I think people that are playing the game, the experience that they're going to have, the safety that they're going to feel is going to draw together a certain type of community, a nontoxic community. So when we actually get to the point of making this online, we've actually got a community of very good people that are very unlikely to treat others badly. And I think that's the key. The key is to create the right type of community in the first place. What I've seen within the traditional world is you've got to understand some of the games that are out there, the violence level of them and the language that is in them. And I get it, they're fun to play and people can laugh about it. But the reality is that some parents out there are happy to let a twelve year old kid go and play Grand Theft Auto Five where some of the obscenities that take place in there are just not right for a twelve year old.

39:02

Funsho

And the online gaming aspect of that is pretty shocking. I've experienced it myself. So it comes down to how responsible we are as human beings to make sure that our children are interacting with the right things. And I believe it's all about fostering the right type of community.

39:25

Nadja

Yeah, I mean, community is always what it comes down to in web3, no matter what the conversation is. And I think really just for us to take a moment and appreciate how special this industry is and really the fact that it's in keeping with the evolution of technology, but at the same time takes a far more holistic approach I think, than web2 technologies. Because it's not often, for example, that you speak to someone that is building a gaming metaverse that really is so much related to the concept of mental health and wanting to empower people as opposed to give them these experiences that might be suboptimal or really even a bad experience. So mental health, I mean, it's a big topic and it's certainly something that I think with the advent of AI is taking a really interesting turn. I started my career in psychology and I'm really watching AI very closely in the sense and really experimenting with it as well in what it can do for our mental health.

40:28

Nadja

So, yeah, as the host of the show, I don't think I've ever spoken to a project on here that has such a big emphasis on mental health. So tell me a little bit about what are your thoughts on how mental health can be integrated into gaming platforms? Because that's certainly not something that I think most gaming companies are looking at and why it should be implemented. We've obviously touched on the bullying, but you also said earlier that this gaming environment can really become a friend of sorts to the players that are immersing themselves in it. And I think we've seen the same with ChatGPT. I mean, not only saying please and thank you when you ask it a question, but also I think a lot of people are treating AI more as a companion and really even talking to it the way you would to a therapist.

41:18

Nadja

So what do you think is the future of the mental health focus within gaming? Should it be a sort of foundational focus? Of course, this is something that makes you guys very revolutionary. But do you think that in future this is going to become much more of a sort of pertinent part of the conversation in gaming, this edition of Mental Health?

41:40

Funsho

I love that question. I think we have to take baby steps with this. It's so important and we need to get a lot of data back to understand the right direction to move in. I have identified a lot of opportunities with AI to help from a mental health perspective, and I am very excited to start to slowly integrate those into Project Lambo. But we understand also that the number one priority here is people's safety, and that's why we had to go with that offline model. There are such small things that can be implemented. It could be an identification of a mood change. So obviously a question could be put forward. And based on the way that question has been put forward from a player to the AI character, to your NPC character, for example, these are all things that you'll be able to do in Project Lambo.

42:50

Funsho

The AI could identify that maybe this person is being a bit sharp or in a bad mood or upset, and as a result, little things like a change of a background color can change the mood. And the response that the AI gives could be more understanding. And these tiny little changes can have huge impacts on the future of the mental health for children and young adults and adults in general. Because, let's be honest, after post COVID and it's a very touchy subject and I don't want to talk about it much, but even things like suicide rates had gone through the roof. And if we can have the tiniest little impact on the mood of a child or a teenager or a young adult that's struggling just by making a few little integrations with AI, I would be a happy man. And for me personally, this is where we're, you know, of course there are going to be more and more things, more testing that goes on.

44:08

Funsho

And for us, the number one priority is safety. It's about keeping the people that are interacting with us safe and we will carry out a lot of testing to make sure that everything is safe prior to integrating it. But that's what I would say on that.

44:27

Nadja

Well Funsho, the future certainly looks bright not only for gaming, but also for Project Lambo. But on that note, the gaming industry obviously is constantly evolving. There's new technologies that are emerging regularly and then you have AI on the other hand that is exponentially evolving at a rapid speed. So in terms of moving and being a first mover at the convergence of these two sort of technologies, the gaming well, in fact three gaming web three and AI, how would you as a project, as a company, kind of ensure that you stay ahead of the curve integrating the latest advancements in AI? And I mean, what is the balance that a gaming company or an AI company or a metaverse company or any sort of technology company for that matter, what is the balance that you need to strike between constantly sort of being on the forefront of the developments and maintaining the build that you are currently working on?

45:33

Funsho

It's another great question. Honestly, I think that you need to have a competitive edge. And I feel like Project Lambo maintains a competitive edge by investing in research and development. I think a lot of people skip this or don't do enough of it. And also actively following the advancements in AI is at the forefront for us because we have to be establishing collaborations with pioneering tech firms. We need to be at the forefront of research and development. And what this allows us to do quickly, which is very important too, is we can incorporate cutting edge AI technologies, we can enhance player experience, we can set new standards in the gaming industry, but most importantly, we can also keep everybody safe.

46:32

Nadja

Yeah. And as you say, that is one of the most important things when building a gaming environment. And definitely something I think that is not being given enough attention. So I'm mindful of the time, I always run out of time to allow the audience to ask some questions. So going to ask you at least one or two final questions. In the meantime, audience, if you have a question, please DM it to the AdLunam Twitter handle. Or you can also just reply in the comments on this space. So Funsho, we've spoken about a lot of things today and I mean, this is always the thing about a conversation like this is there's so many directions that you're able to take it in. I know you guys have got an NFT Drop coming up, I think, at the end of the month, if I'm not mistaken.

47:21

Nadja

So what is the immediate future for Project Lambo over the next few months? Maybe even starting from the NFT Drop that is launching soon?

47:33

Funsho

Sure. So, yes, we've got an exclusive NFT Drop. For our Genesis Drop, we have brought to life the Pepe character and the Doge character in our own special way. We've got Zeus, Pepe and Spartan Doge as characters. These are playable characters that people will be able to use in the game. They'll be able to earn with these characters, and they come with a lot of additional benefits too, with them being our Genesis Drop. Our main focus at the moment is building our community and educating our community so that they understand what is coming after that, it will be the drop of our MVP. So this will be the beta version of our game, and that is coming towards the end of August. We will be announcing that soon. So you want to keep an eye out for that. We've already shared some gameplay footage. You can check that out in our discord.

48:32

Funsho

A lot of people are referring to it as similar graphics to Fortnite. We have got an open world environment where people can explore, and we have also got an RPG style fighting experience with combat as well, which we're really excited to share with you guys in the coming weeks. But that's kind of where we're at before moving on towards the end of Q3, early Q4, where we plan to do our Token Generation event, our TGE. We're very excited for that. We've already been accepted by some mid-tier exchanges, which I will not share names, but you guys will find out about that soon enough and just really excited with how things are progressing and really thankful to be here and be a part of this whole industry, to be honest here.

49:26

Nadja

It's definitely an amazing privilege to be just at the forefront of how things are developing. And, yeah, special shout out to everyone on the show today because there's no time like the bear market to be educating yourself. So, Funsho, maybe my last question before we go on to the questions from the audience, because I see there's quite a bit of them coming in already. So you have this unique combination at Project Lambo education, mental health, gaming, and social interaction. So, in your opinion, as a thought leader in the space, what do you see as the next big step in the evolution of gaming? We have had a lot of talk of Web3, we've had a lot of talk of AI and NFTs and all of these different aspects. But where do you see things actually going? Knowing that it is going to be a long process of user adoption, of change in behavior, of just the change in how we view gaming as a whole and the integration of different cutting edge technologies alongside it?

50:26

Nadja

So what do you think is the future of gaming?

50:29

Funsho

I think it's only going to continue to grow. One of the things for me is a lot of people talk about web2 to web3 and bridging the gap and all of that kind of thing, and I get that. But gaming is gaming. Whether we bring in new technology or not. The next lot of new technology that comes along, will it be web4? Will it have a different name? The reality is there is new technology that is here for gaming today and not enough people know about it. And that takes time. New technologies always take time to fully get adopted and accepted. So the number one priority for us is focusing on educating people about what can be done today and how they can benefit from that. So I see the market expanding exponentially for the technologies that exist today, and I think it's going to continue to intersect with other sectors like education and finance.

51:32

Funsho

NFT sharing, for example, has got the potential to enhance gaming experiences by providing real world value for in game achievements. And I think that's massive. Absolutely massive. And not enough people know about it. And unfortunately, people are afraid of change. So we've seen a lot of gamers that, no, we don't want NFTs. We saw it with Ubisoft not so long ago, and that's purely down to a lack of education, in my opinion. The more these people will learn what you can do and what the benefits are to you and how you get to have the power back with these NFTs to be able to own your own in game assets. Let's talk about Call of Duty. You go and spend money and you get a new gun and a new skin for that gun, but you can't sell it, you can't take it into another game.

52:31

Funsho

It's just stuck there for that one game. And for me, that's not fair. And I want to give power back to the gamers. I want gamers to be rewarded for what they spend in certain games. That's how it should be. It's you scratch our back, we scratch your back. That's how fairness is seen. So for me, I'll give you something on the AI side that, again, is really important from my side. A classic example of a game without advanced artificial intelligence is Super Mario Brothers. So everybody knows Mario, and this is an iconic game. Enemies like the Gumbers and the Cooper Troopers, they move in a predictable pattern. They don't change their behavior based on how the player is interacting with them. And then similarly Pac Man Everyone knows Pac Man. It's another game where the ghosts follow predetermined paths and the player's kind of strategy primarily revolves around understanding and exploiting these patterns.

53:42

Funsho

Now, in contrast, and this is why I love what we're building, project Lambo's games use artificial intelligence that offers a much richer, more dynamic experience. So AI powered NPCs that can adapt and evolve based on player interactions. And if a player frequently assists a particular NPC, the AI can make that character more friendly and helpful to the player. And similarly, the AI could cause an NPC that the player often harms to become fearful or antagonistic. And these are the kind of advancements in gaming that I think are going to really start pricking some ears up and getting people's attention. So I'm just excited for the future.

54:33

Nadja

Well, I'm excited that there's going to come a time in my life when I've spoken to enough people that I will want to game myself. And I have to say, Funsho, you are one of the leaders in this push to get me onto a gaming platform. So I'm going to go over to from I'm sorry, I'm always so bad with usernames Zadog or Zidog seeing that I'm in South Africa right now. Do you think that introducing AI technology will address art storage and security against hackers trying to steal your unique NFT creations and address the issues of originality verification and authentication, quality control in the NFT ecosystem? So will AI help with NFT securing NFTs?

55:22

Funsho

I think AI is going to help with most things, if I'm honest. It's not an area I've got a great deal of experience in. Personally, I can obviously do some digging around, but the reality is that I believe artificial intelligence is going to be able to do things at a faster rate, programmable rate, and a non-emotional rate, far faster than what a human being can do. And that means that would probably be a good improvement on anything that we have been able to build so far. Like I've said before, it's making sure that these things are tried, tested, safe prior to being integrated into any marketplace. But very good question. I like that one.

56:17

Nadja

Indeed. So next one, I'm going to do a little race against time here from Solman character development. What makes game characters relatable?

56:30

Funsho

Okay, so what makes game characters relatable? One of the biggest things I would say that makes game characters relatable is probably N for L, which is NFTs to Life. Now this is something that Project Lambo is offering to try and help the existing NFT marketplace. So imagine you have got an NFT collection. You've got a very famous mascot. I'm going to use Pudgy Penguins as an example. And what Pudgy Penguins have is a diehard community that love the artwork that's created. From a utility standpoint, they have certain things that they can offer, but from a gaming perspective, we can offer them the ability to have a Pudgy Penguins character built that is a play to earn character. They can have their own exclusive NFT drop for their community. It's going to spark a lot of interest for their community to know that they've got that additional utility and that makes it relatable for other existing communities that are out there that want to bring their NFT collections to life in a gaming environment that can work with Project Lambo.

57:48

Funsho

That's one side. The second side is the artwork that has been created. Jake Gumbleton, he's a fantastic artist, okay. And he's worked with some of the greats. He has worked on projects for Disney, Pirates of the Caribbean, James Bond, Star Wars, and many others has worked with us to create these amazing characters. And we have got a lot more characters in the pipeline being created at the moment too. One thing that we've looked at, which is a fantastic technology out there, is actually the ability for people to come with their own individual NFT and have it turned into a playable character. Now we are looking at integrating that further down the line with the roadmap. But as things stand at the moment, it would be quite pricey for people to use and we don't feel that it's a good offering from the offset. So we're going to look into that further down the line to see where we can lower that cost because we want everyone to be able to experience Project Lambo as best.

58:55

Nadja

Fantastic. So onto my maybe last question, seeing that we are on the top of the hour from Randy, how does Project Lambo assure gaming fairness, particularly in terms of preventing cheating and exploitation by some?

59:13

Funsho

I mean, that's going to come down to the in game token that we have, which is called grass token. So when people are playing with the Project Lambo ecosystem, they are only going to gain XP, for example, by playing for a certain period of time, by completing certain tasks, by going and interacting with certain educational content and carrying out different daily rewards. For example, once that has been completed, it's then up to them to confirm and that information is uploaded onto the blockchain, which is completely transparent. Every person that's a general member of the public can go and access it and then that information is uploaded onto their NFT. So we make sure that there is transparency throughout, the best possible security throughout. But we separate between people playing the game and the NFT actually being inside the game, which creates a lot more security risks.

Funsho

And we feel that's, again, another big USP for us.

Nadja

Well, with that, we've unfortunately come to the end of the hour. It's always so sad to me to be able to not fit all of the questions in. So guys, if you did submit a question, please feel free to reach out to Funsho and Project Lambo directly. I did see one question that I'm not going to go into too much, but maybe you can give me a one word answer in the same breath as telling us where the audience can connect with you guys. So, from Gloria, what was your favorite game growing up and how can we see its influence in Lambo?

Funsho

Oh, that's fantastic. Resident Evil was one of my favorite games growing up. You will see some amazing scares and the storyline, I just think, is epic. So, of course, we've got to look out for the younger generation as well. We don't want it too scary. But that was one of my favorites growing up and I really appreciate being invited on today. Thank you for all of you that have attended. In terms of finding out more information about Project Lambo, you can visit our website, which is projectlambo.io. Please join our discord, join our fantastic community. You can do that via the website and if you want to follow me, you can follow me. It's at funshocrypto on Twitter. But thank you, Nadja, appreciate your time. Thank you, AdLunam, and thank you all of the guests. You've been fantastic.

Nadja

Funsho, thank you so much for sharing this time with us today. I think it's very exciting to hear what you guys are building and definitely looking forward to the future. So, to the audience, thank you once again for joining us live today. And if you are tuning into this on the podcast afterwards yeah, do consider joining us live for a time because the ability to be able to ask questions directly of the speaker is definitely something that you cannot get on the podcast. But on that note, guys, thank you. It's been an amazing and very informative and enlightening hour. I'm sure you can agree with me, the future is very bright, although it might not be as quick as we would like it to be, but we are building it when we are getting there steadily. So I will catch you again next week for another episode of The Future of NFTs, brought to you by AdLunam.

Nadja

Cheers, guys. Have a lovely day. Funsho, lovely to connect with you. Speak to you soon. Cheers, guys.

Funsho

Thank you.