Given time, everything changes. Even our societies have undergone massive evolutions. However, evolution doesn’t mean that it’s the end. With the evolution of society, in today’s day and age, women can vote, and slavery is close to non-existent. This being said, there are still many things that need constant improvement. With the division among people still being taboo, it requires a modern solution.
Recently, there was a buzz on the internet regarding a “portal” which was opened in two European cities, Lublin and Vilnius, with the purpose of bringing people of the countries together. Having an excellent meaning of bringing together people from two countries, this portal looks futuristic and very cool. This portal takes a circular shape, which symbolizes the wheel of time, and being the first of its kind, it is built in one of Poland’s oldest cities Lublin, and Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius. The two cities have a rich history as well, as on July 1st 1569, the Union of Lublin between the two countries being signed here. This Union also went on to create the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as well.
Going with the theme of unity, the portal is set up with screens and cameras, which have the ability to live-broadcast the other city. The on-screen effect looks like the ‘overview effect, which is how astronauts see Earth from out of space. As technical difficulties may arise when there is sound 24/7, the portal is currently silent, but on special events, sounds are enabled. Even though there is no sound passed through the portal, people in the two countries have found numerous ways to communicate, like taking selfies, blowing kisses and waving. The implementation team of the portal explains that with this kind of physical measure, the psychological barriers of people seem to disappear. Due to the portal, they tend to get more active and very enthusiastic, without even being encouraged. This is probably due to the fact that today, many people crave human connection due to the pandemic.
Benediktas Gylys is the man behind this brilliant idea, and he thinks that many challenges faced by humans are due to the lack of understanding of others. This idea of his, PORTAL, is supposed to spread the message of unity among us humans so that we can overcome the differences and divisions that have been put in place by ourselves.
The project had its fair share if challenges as well, as drafting a design were a challenge due to the fact that it should be minimal. The design should also be able to fit all the complex electronic devices inside as well. Some other important aspects which were considered were negative environmental aspects and preventing vandalism. After much deliberation and testing, the team used tempered glass, concrete and stainless steel to build these 3-meter wide twin portals which weighed 11 tons.
The birth of this idea was possible due to the lovely people from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University Creativity & Innovation Centre “LinkMenų fabrikas”. Their hard work on this project paid off and made it a reality. The two cities will be connected till August, after which the city will change. Even though the time the two cities are connected is limited, the project is timeless and limitless, and the PORTAL team goes on to say: “the project will last until the destruction of the planet or the end of the problems that cause the divide between people.”
