Vilnius, Lithuania built a ‘portal’ to another city to help keep people connected – By Kim Lyons (The Verge) / May 30 2021
The project is meant to prompt people to “rethink the idea of unity”
Weary of pandemic travel restrictions and aching to get out and see new people? The city of Vilnius, Lithuania has interesting solution: A real-time “portal” to another city. They really went all-in on the idea and the design; it looks quite a bit like something out of the erstwhile sci-fi movie/show Stargate.
The city installed a circular “door” for the portal near its train station that connects to a portal in Lublin, Poland, about 600 kilometers (or roughly 375 miles) away. The portals both have large screens and cameras that broadcast live images between the two cities— a kind of digital bridge, according to its creators— meant to encourage people to “rethink the meaning of unity,” Go Vilnius said in a press release. Aw.
“Humanity is facing many potentially deadly challenges; be it social polarization, climate change or economic issues. However, if we look closely, it’s not a lack of brilliant scientists, activists, leaders, knowledge or technology causing these challenges. It’s tribalism, a lack of empathy and a narrow perception of the world, which is often limited to our national borders,” says Benediktas Gylys, President of the Benediktas Gylys Foundation and who Go Vilnius credits as the “initiator” of the portal idea. He says the project is “a bridge that unifies and an invitation to rise above prejudices and disagreements that belong to the past.”
CONTINUE > https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/30/22460964/vilnius-lithuania-portal-poland-connection-pandemic
