<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2CntQH_0wEPvYil00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2CntQH_0wEPvYil00" width="1200" height="900" ></figure>Globally famous for its public video connection between New York and Dublin earlier this year, in a surprise move “The Portal” is being set up in Philadelphia’s Love Park.Philadelphia’s Love Park is a popular visiting space for locals and travelers. Located close to City Hall at the start of the Franklin Parkway, it features a large fountain, the Visitor’s Center and the famous Love Statue.If you’re unfamiliar with ”Portal” it is an interactive art exhibit created as a large approx 8 foot high circle with a large glass inner circle. That inner circle is actually a video conferencing screen.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1lufup_0wEPvYil00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1lufup_0wEPvYil00" width="1200" height="900" ><figcaption>Portal at Philadelphia’s Love Park. Fountain in the distance.</figcaption></figure>Things start to connect (literally and figuratively) when the portal is turned on and connects to other countries several thousand miles away… bringing the populations of different cultures together via a “it’s like you’re standing right there, looking through a portal” illusion.Simply, each of the portals have video cameras to capture the live images of the locals standing in front of their portal, and the video is livestreamed via the Internet to the other locations… where residents in another country are watching.. and transmitting video back.With the display screens filling the entire space of the large inner circle, it appears as if you’re peeking into another dimension… a different place, different country, different people.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1K5ibW_0wEPvYil00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1K5ibW_0wEPvYil00" width="1200" height="900" ><figcaption>Image: Portals.Org</figcaption></figure>It’s a very real implementation of portals which have been featured in numerous science fiction movies and TV shows for decades! Maybe a bit like Monsters Inc when they open up the doors in the factory which lead into the children’s homes… except with Philadelphia’s Portal you wont be able to walk in!There are multiple Portal installations around the globe and earlier this year they were connected in pairs (New York to Dublin). Over the summer they were updated to rotate the images every three minutes… with New York seeing views of Vilnius (Lithuania) and Lublin (Poland).The Portals.Org website is now also show Brazil as a location.My guess is Philadelphia will be added into the “pool” of rotating portal streams.Positive experience stories were shared from the New York and Dublin installation such as when families reconnected with members had moved from Dublin to New York… and they were able to meet up at the portal and touch their hands together on the glass!Factor in that the other portals will likely be in in different time zones… you could be standing in Love Park at 4pm in the afternoon sunshine, conversing with people in Europe who are several time zones ahead standing in a darkened evening town square with holiday lights twinkling around them.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4biaXM_0wEPvYil00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4biaXM_0wEPvYil00" width="1200" height="900" ><figcaption>Portal at Philadelphia’s Love Park. Visitors Center in the rear</figcaption></figure>There has been no official announcement yet of the Philadelphia Portal installation.. yet.I first saw news of the Philadelphia location yesterday on a Reddit post where someone had seen the Portal being installed, snapped an image and shared it to online..News website Axiom then jumped on the story and says they were able to confirm with the foundation behind the Portal Art Installations that Philadelphia is a next location… seemingly a relocation of the portal that was in New York up until last month.Local photography publicity platform PhillyChitChat then also researched the story and found out that on Tuesday next week there will be a press conference and the portal will be turned on!Overall I think Philadelphia is an awesome choice and in particular, Love Park is an excellent location.We are heading into the holiday season and the area around City Hall and Love Park features several fun holiday attractions including ice skating, Holiday village and more. So the Philadelphia Portal installation should have a constant stream of locals in the area to interact with our partner portals.During my visit today at Love Park there were hundreds of people enjoying the open space… standing in line to get their photo taken at the Love statue and even though it’s October 19th, it was warm enough that people were playing in the fountain!<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1lu4B5_0wEPvYil00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1lu4B5_0wEPvYil00" width="1200" height="900" ></figure><h2>The Portal… Controversy?</h2>New York is likely the most well known city in the entire world so absolutely when the portal was installed there earlier this year, it got a lot of media attention. And Dublin is obviously also well known.New York and Dublin alone are big enough reasons to make global news.But that media attention escalated significantly when… well let’s just say amidst all of the wonderful and fun moments between the two country’s portals, being in big cities it introduced some non-family aspects!Politics were put on display, whether it be on sign boards or someone showing a political video from another device.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0onW9c_0wEPvYil00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0onW9c_0wEPvYil00" width="1200" height="900" ></figure>It was also reported that once or twice an adult oriented entertainer decided to use the Portal for some less than wholesome global marketing… done as they stood there in the public New York park.After that for a very brief moment the New York/Dublin portals were shut down as the team reworked some of the aspects with a focus on security and keeping the content family friendly… Adding a fence for one which kept people from getting up on top of the glass.Many Reddit commenters were joking “they put this in Philadelphia? Didn’t they research this first?”. But I know everything will be fine!So far it doesn’t look like there will be a barrier fence in front of the portal that is installed at Love Park.As mentioned, according to PhillyChitChat there is a press conference Tuesday at 10am to announce the Philadelphia Portal and officially turn it on!<h2>Links and Location</h2>The Portal – PhiladelphaJFK Plaza Love Park16h Street and JFK BoulevardPhiladelphia PA</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Portal Video Installation at Philadelphia’s Love Park.

Globally famous for its public video connection between New York and Dublin earlier this year, in a surprise move “The Portal” is being set up in Philadelphia’s Love Park. Philadelphia’s Love Park is a popular visiting space for locals and travelers. Located close to City Hall at...