Vilnius, Lithuania Opens Futuristic ‘Portals’ To Connect People Between Cities
Image via Benediktas Gylys Foundation
In new installations a little on the nose with Doctor Strange, two cities—Vilnius, Lithuania and Lublin, Poland—have set up the first of sci-fi-esque “portals” connecting locals to one another in real-time. The tech is poised to expand to other cities of the world as a “bridge to unity.”
The mirror-like fixtures are circular and are attached with LED lighting to recreate the portals seen in films of futuristic worlds. While the PORTAL serves a meaningful purpose in a pandemic-stricken era, where borders continue to be closed off, it was five years in the making.
Engineers at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University’s (Vilnius Tech) LinkMenų fabrikas center and the Benediktas Gylys Foundation had envisioned them as antidotes for “social polarization” and “a secluded perception of the world,” described the Vilnius-based foundation’s founder Benediktas Gylys in a press release.
Unfortunately, technology hasn’t advanced far enough for a PORTAL to serve as an actual portal that can take users across destinations at the drop of a hat, sans passports. It’s essentially a large, internet-connected screen that displays footage of a parallel destination in real-time.
Gylys imagines the doors as an interactive “bridge to unity, an invitation to rise above prejudices, above the disagreements that belong to the past… it’s an invitation to rise above the illusion of us and them.”
Following the two cities, the creators are hoping to bring these harmonizing PORTALs to London, England and Reykjavik, Iceland.
Image via Vilnius Tech
[via Interesting Engineering, images via various sources]
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