OVERVIEW

Decentralised digital identity is a big idea: you control your own credentials, prove only what's necessary, and never hand over more data than a situation requires. The challenge at SXSW 2026 was making that idea land with a festival crowd in under fifteen minutes.

So we built a near-future escape room, set in 2029, in the middle of the 'Great Identity Spill'.

DETAIL

The door locked, the lights dropped, and an AI-generated briefing officer appeared on screen: an identity breach was spreading through Austin's networks, and the team needed field operatives it could trust. That meant them.

Every puzzle was wired to a real principle of decentralised identity. Heat-sensitive props, infrared-revealed clues, NFC credentials, a wall of AI-generated faces. Players didn't hear the idea explained; they lived it, one mechanic at a time, while generative audio raised the stakes. The room was a designed argument, every prop in service of a single idea about the future of identity.

On exit, players stepped into a reveal space where the team connected the fiction to real identity risks and the work being done to adress them.

Over five days at SXSW 2026, more than 300 participants spent up to fifteen minutes inside the experience, generating substantive leads for the Accenture team and multiple invites to upcoming events. Watch this space!

ROLE

Creative Lead: concept, narrative, experience design and technology

TEAM

Creative Producer & Experience Design: TJ Ryan
Visual Designer: Emi Daly
Writer: Peter Crawley
Tech consultants: David Meagher & Evan Greally

Created at Accenture’s The Dock

CONT@CT

© 2026. All rights reserved. All wrongs reversed.