This City In Lithuania Has Created A ‘Portal’ To Another City

Tired of staying in your own city, and in your own vicinity? Catering to that is the portal to another city to make people feel more connected. It is built in Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania. The idea behind the project is to reunite people and to rethink the idea of unity aided by digital means.

The factor of unity amongst people has been drastically affected in the current pandemic situation. People are getting more self-sufficient in terms of emotional needs, and some haven’t been able to fight the emotional war and are in need of attention from friends, the hanging out plans and normal socializing that seem like a fainted dream now.

The newly built real-time portal to another city seems like something coming out of a science fiction movie, which actually is an installed circular door in Vilnius playing as a portal near its train station and connects to another portal situated in Lublin, Poland. The portals that show what is happening in the other city in a real-time lie at a distance of about 600 kilometers.

The new portals are built with large screens and cameras that allow for live images between the two cities, playing the role 0f a digital bridge, as per a statement from its developers. The purpose and the idea behind the built portals is to “rethink the meaning of unity.”

“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 marks as the “initiator” of the portal idea.

He said that the project is “a bridge that unifies and an invitation to rise above prejudices and disagreements that belong to the past.”

These portals were designed by engineers at the Creativity and Innovation Centre (LinkMenu fabrikas) at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, also known as Vilnius Tech. The innovative new time portals were five years in the making and its release after the passing of one year of the pandemic is well-timed, and to say that the concept started from the right place won’t be wrong either, as people from Lithuania are famous for a “no smile look” on their faces as constant, this might aid in killing their loneliness to bits.

“From design and 3D modeling to digital content development and logistic challenges – a project like this requires a broad and multifunctional team,” said Adas Meskenas, director of LinkMenu fabrikas. “Meaningful projects like this one are born when diverse people succeed in working together and achieving synchronicity.”

The portal is a joint venture of the Benediktas Gylys Foundation, the City of Vilnius, the City of Lublin, and the Crossroads Centre for Intercultural Creative Initiatives and is expected to extend to other cities of the world in the coming times.

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