Topics: Art, New York, Technology, Travel, Ireland, News, World News
The infamous video portal allowing people from New York and Dublin to interact in real-time has reopened - however, there's been some changes.
The portal features a large circular screen which shows video from a camera on a second screen in another location.
While the screen is not an actual portal, it's built in New York and Dublin's city centres as if you could step through it.
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Explaining the concept behind the art installation, Portals.org founder Benediktas Gylys said: "Portals are an invitation to meet people above borders and differences and to experience our world as it really is - united and one.
"The livestream provides a window between distant locations, allowing people to meet outside of their social circles and cultures, transcend geographical boundaries, and embrace the beauty of global interconnectedness."
However, the portal temporarily closed last week after things took a bit of a horrible turn.
For example, some people in Dublin showed New York pictures of the 9/11 attacks, while others flashed various body parts.
Meanwhile, other participants were seen allegedly doing drugs on camera, and some took the opportunity to troll passers-by.
An OnlyFans model in New York also went viral after she took the chance to flash her breasts at the camera - a move has raked her in a bit of money.
Dublin City Council announced on Tuesday (May 14) that it would be closing the portal due to 'inappropriate behavior by a small minority of people'.
Thankfully, for those who want to play by the rules, the portal has now been reopened.
The installation’s organizers in both cities have now implemented a 'proximity-based solution' which will see folks being prevented from stepping on the portals and holding phones up to the cameras.
Doing such an act will now trigger a blurring of the livestream on both sides, organizers say.
Fencing and spacing decals have also been added to the New York portal.
Gylys said in a statement on Sunday (May 19): "As humans we are creating the Portals experience together.
"I invite local communities not only to enjoy but to care about their Portals and how other community members are approaching the sculptures."
The portal in New York is located on the Flatiron South Public Plaza at Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 23rd Street, one of the busiest intersections in the Big Apple.
As for the Dublin portal, that can be found on the junction between O'Connell Street and North Earl Street.
John Plummer is one of those to take advantage of the portal so far after visiting Dublin from Drogheda in County Louth.
He told the BBC: "It's amazing. It's great to see something like this in the city and to be able to watch people going about their business in New York while we're standing here in the centre of Dublin."
So if you are planning on visiting either portal any time soon, be on your best behavior.
