Tesla Motors giant factory was opened in Vilnius with huge fireworks and ribbon cutting ceremony. Currently, just a virtual one. 

 

Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) student in Multimedia and Computer Design Darius Kniūkšta took initiative to unite 42 computer game developers and built a virtual version of a facility inside the "Minecraft" video game.

 

“I’ve been interested in Elon Musk’s – the founder of Tesla Motors – activities for a long time. I find the technologies developed by his companies very fascinating. I decided that I have to do something the moment the idea to attract the next Tesla Motor’s giant factory to Lithuania gained publicity. This challenge is something that the enthusiastic game developers want to take, because we are interested not only in playing games. We care about bigger ideas and the future of Lithuania”, said VGTU student D. Kniūkšta.
 
Virtual construction of the facility took 36 hours and was broadcasted live via 10 influential Lithuanian broadcasters on YouTube and Twitch.

 

The project gained global attention and was noticed by Tesla itself. On the 3rd of February Tesla tweeted: "Lithuania knows the way to our heart." and shared the video with the tour around virtual facility.

 

 

Numerous news agencies also shared the news and the unique idea. Messages on the virtual factory were published by The New York Times, The Roanoke Times, on news portals fox6now.com, phys.org, by news agencies AP and AFP. Also on websites specialised in electric cars Electrek and Teslarati.