Philadelphia, PA—From across the globe, individuals can wave hello to one another in real-time by visiting The Portal locations.
The Portal was created in 2021 by the Benediktas Gylys Foundation (BGF). According to their website on Portal.org, “Portals share an invitation for unity that has been touching hundreds of millions of people.”
The Portal was previously installed in New York City and recently relocated to Philadelphia’s John F. Kennedy Plaza, commonly known as LOVE Park. Now, at the heart of the center city, residents and visitors to Pennsylvania can connect virtually with other countries from across the globe.
While there, a child asked her mother if they could hear her from the other side. Unfortunately, the Portal does not have audio for visitors to speak to one another through the art installation. However, there were messages written on discarded signs surrounding The Portal, proving that regardless of the distance, people attempt to connect and communicate with one another.
The website further explains that “Portals are technology art sculptures. They connect to a network of identical sculptures all over the planet. Each Portal is located in the public space, providing a real-time, unfiltered livestream 24/7 that is frequently rotating between different Portal locations on Earth.”
Currently, there are Portals located in Dublin, Ireland; Lulin, Poland; Philadelphia, USA; Piauí, Brazil; and Vilnius, Lithuania, with more locations to be announced. The participating countries will be projected live on-screen for three and a half minutes before switching locations. Included in the rotation are images of Earth thanks to Sen, an initiative launched by Founder Charles Black.
According to Sen’s website, “Sen was founded in 2014 by Charles Black with a vision to democratize space using video to inform, educate, inspire and benefit all humanity. Sen’s mission is to stream real-time videos from space to billions of people, gathering news and information on Earth and space and making the data universally accessible and useful. Sen captures its unique video content using its own satellites and hosted cameras.”
The Portal, which held its ribbon-cutting ceremony for LOVE Park on October 22, 2024, will remain at that site through November 7, 2024, before it is moved to another area.
Learn more about The Portal and its history by going to https://www.portals.org and Sen by visiting https://about.sen.com. For more information about LOVE Park, https://www.phlvisitorcenter.com/lovepark.
You can visit The Portal at 1569 John F Kennedy Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19102.
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