Human personality is molded by the experiences we endure on a daily basis. In the physical world, these experiences shape our inner personality traits, influence our day to day decisions, and define who we are at any given moment. We believe the digital world is becoming increasingly similar to the physical world, and even overtaking many physical world experiences and emotions (just look at Tube girl and how she cares more about perception in the digital world – TikTok, where people commend her bravery – than perception in the physical world – the subway, where people are likely exuding judgment and secondhand embarrassment).

With that said, we believe that just like the physical world, our digital selves should also evolve based on our experiences online, and that’s key in creating a meaningful digital world with meaningful interactions. 

Introducing our Traits Framework. 

How the Physical World Shapes Us

In the physical realm, everything we do, from the moment you wake up and decide who you’re going to text first, to the moment you go to sleep and decide the last TikTok to watch, plays a part in shaping our personality. Whether you’re a killer soccer player with insane stamina, or an avid reader with a large vocabulary, one experience influences the next. My stamina earned from soccer will help me in skiing, and my vocabulary earned from reading will help me carry a conversation at work. At the heart of this journey we call life, is the constant acquisition of new knowledge, skills, and experience, which is constantly shaping our personality at every turn.

Let’s take the video game FIFA. Each year, a player like Messi receives updated stats based on his performance that year. However, these stats are typically influenced solely by in-game activities on an annual basis. Now, imagine if this data was updated in real-time, reflecting every nuance of his day – from poor sleep patterns and dietary choices to personal relationships. The complexity of traits in such a scenario would actually be way more representative of who he is and why he is such a good soccer player.

Your personality is the culmination of a million micro moments that happen on a daily basis, most of them being choices that you make. You make a choice to say something a specific way when breaking up with your partner, you make a choice to choose the red shirt or the blue shirt, you make a choice to drive fast and cut people off or drive slow and enjoy the ride. The result of these million micro choices end up defining your thoughts, behavior, and overall personality. 

Our mission at Genies is to achieve this level of trait dynamism for every digital avatar through what you do and what you say. We’ll first capture what you do through your choices in gameplay. Meanwhile, AI Creators, which we will discuss more on soon, will focus on what you say. While the Traits Framework that we are introducing is just the beginning, is the foundation upon which we’re building this interoperable digital universe. 

The Traits Framework

At the heart of Genies Party, is a universe filled with digital activities and games, which we call “Experiences.” Our vision is a world, filled with millions of such Experiences, each influencing the traits one possesses, allowing avatars to become authentic reflections of a user’s nuanced and diverse personality.

To kickstart this vision, we’re introducing a set of foundational traits. These are traits that define a person’s core personality (such as optimism, courage, flirtiness and more). We were very diligent when selecting these initial traits, ensuring they serve as a good starting point for the more dynamic trait system we envision. 

The foundational traits were chosen with three main criteria in mind…

1. What is interesting information that people enjoy learning about each other?

2. What is interesting information that one can acquire in how they behave online? 

3. What types of information can influence how one behaves in multiple experiences? 

Expressive traits (more coming soon) are where it gets really fun for the end user. An expressive trait will be the unique information given to a user that they can compare with their friends. For example, who would most likely run for president? Who would be the best coach for the 49ers? Who is most likely to quit their job in the coming months? 

So, how do these traits come to life in gameplay? As you immerse yourself in different Experiences and interact with other users and AI agents, each trait changes and evolves in unique ways, shaping your avatar and influencing gameplay itself across the ecosystem.

For example, let’s say one of your foundational traits is “Friendly”. As you engage in experiences, you might unlock an AI agent that gives you an advantage in other social experiences that require conversation.

What are “Things?”

While traits are the lifeblood of this ecosystem, “Things” introduces an exciting visual layer that we see leading to unique and innovative collaboration between developers. Developers are not just working in isolated silos, but rather encouraged to collaborate, bringing to life unique items (Things) that can travel across multiple experiences.

As we discussed in our Genies Party post, imagine earning a unique item in one experience – say, a rock from Rock, Paper, Scissors, because that’s literally all you used. This rock could then be utilized in another experience – perhaps a racing experience, where you can throw rocks to slow other drivers down. Or, in a cooking experience – you are the owner of a restaurant and your task is to create the menu with an AI agent. The AI agent chef asks you questions about yourself, your heritage, memories, diet, habits, and more. Maybe the chef finds a through line that you are very rebellious, even in your diet, and you earn a spicy pepper that you can now use in other Experiences as well. 

By incentivizing developers to create Things that work in other experiences, we’re fostering a thriving ecosystem where every new Thing enhances the user experience of the entire platform.

In a world of walled gardens, our goal is to break down barriers, creating a connected digital universe that mirrors the interconnectedness of our physical world experiences.