Irish firm brings Nevada’s ‘blockchain’ city to life
AN Irish-based creative production agency is at the heart of a US billionaire’s plans to build a new smart city “from scratch” in Nevada.
Dublin company Algorithm was tasked with producing a 3D animation of cryptocurrency mogul Jeffrey Berns’s vision for the 67,000-acre city, known as ‘Innovation Park’.
The agency projected its 100 sq m animation across the front of the Forum Karlin in Prague recently. Guests to the city’s launch also walked through a 12 metre-long ‘tunnel of light’ before hearing Berns’ plans for turning science fiction into reality. Algorithm also worked alongside Digital Domain, most notably known when developing a hologram of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, in constructing the launch for Berns’s blockchain centre.
The company’s creative director, Daniel Staines, said that the work was “by far the most challenging” to date since it began operating three years ago.
“There is a real moment of satisfaction when you see the vision you’ve been so passionate about for months finally come to life,” he said.
“It’s a great confidence boost to know that what we are trying to create here in Ireland is attracting the attention of US-based agencies.”
Berns is the chief executive of Blockchains LLC, a company that aims to use the technology to the “benefit of mankind”.
Decision-making in the new city will be carried out by a distributed collaborative entity, which will be made up of the city’s residents, according to Berns. It was reported that Berns paid around $170m for the massive site, which is situated in the Nevada desert.