The 2.4-metre-wide screens have been in place in the city centers of Dublin and New York since last week. People in both cities can follow what is happening on the other side of the ocean 24 hours a day.
The creators of the art project hope to connect people around the world. “Portals were created out of the feeling that people have more in common than what divides us,” they wrote on their website.
Waving and dancing
This turns out to be generally true. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, there was a lot of waving and smiling on the other side. There was dancing and jokes, which is exactly what the municipalities had in mind when the project was launched.
But unfortunately not everyone was looking for connection, some people showed abusive behaviour. For example, a woman in New York showed her breasts and images of the burning Twin Towers from Ireland were shown.
Due to the misconduct of some people, Dublin City Council felt forced to pause the project. Last night the screens went black.
Blur
The team behind the portal is now working on a technical solution that will automatically prevent inappropriate behavior. If that works, New Yorkers could wave again later this week.
Dublin and New York are not the only places with a portal, there are also screens in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius and the Polish city of Lublin.
