The Covid-19 pandemic has made travel and tourism between countries much more restricted and difficult. In this context, the capital Vilnius of Lithuania has come up with an interesting initiative of a real-time electronic portal to another city. Two circular portals were installed in Vilnius (Lithuania) and Lublin (Poland) to connect the people of these two cities during the pandemic.
The circular portal symbolizes the wheel of time. In works of science fiction, the "time-traveling" portal is conceived as allowing people to travel through time and space. In Vilnius, an electronic portal is installed near the central train station, connecting in real time to Plac Litewski in Lublin, 600 km away.
The "time-traveling" gate connects two countries 600 km apart. Photo: Vilnius Tech Linkmenų fabrikas
Both gates have large screens and cameras that broadcast live images of the two cities. Currently, the gates are muted due to digital limitations, but while it is difficult to have sound 24/7, people in both places still have ways to communicate with each other, such as waving, sending kisses, or using body language. The gate's creators say that the sound will be turned on for special events.
Even without sound, people in the two cities still connect with each other through body language. Photo: LithuaniaMFA
The circular design of the gate was created by engineers at the Vilnius Gedima Center for Creativity and Innovation. According to the creators of the project, it is a kind of digital bridge that encourages people to think about the meaning of connection. "It is a bridge of connection and a call to overcome past prejudices and disagreements," said Benediktas Gylys, the initiator of the idea.
The purpose of creating the "time-traveling" portal is to connect people. Photo: Vilnius Tech Linkmenų fabrikas
The gate took five years to complete and the pandemic was the perfect time to show it to the public, when people were feeling isolated and craving a fresh idea. Now, the gate is attracting attention from social media users, with a post about it receiving more than 140,000 likes in less than a day on Reddit. Social media users left humorous comments, such as "if you run through the gate, you will reach Poland".
The gate connecting Vilnius and Lublin is the world's first "time-traveling" gate. Photo: Vilnius Tech Linkmenų fabrikas
The gate connecting Vilnius and Lublin is the first "time-traveling" gate in the world and will not be the last. The project's developers hope to see more of them popping up around the world. Currently, two cities are being planned to install the gates: Reykjavik, Iceland, and London, England.
