Converted Shipping Containers With Immersive Audio Visual Technology Allow Distant Strangers to Talk Face-to-Face

Portals, created by Amar Bakshi of Shared Studios, are converted shipping containers that have been painted gold and allow strangers from different parts of the world to talk face-to-face with one another through the immersive audio visual technology available inside. The technology can be used to collaborate in such areas as art, technology, music, dance or dialogue or just have a simple conversation with someone who lives somewhere else.

Live, full-body and with translation, you can converse as if in the same room. Many participants have described feeling as though they were “breathing the same air.” …Visitors enter Portals one-at-a-time and carry on a private conversation with a person in the other location. Translators at one side or the other are available to assist as needed. All interactions in the Portal are private and not recorded unless both sides wish otherwise. Recorded sessions can be broadcast live and/or posted online. The Portal can be used for off-hours reservations for longer stretches of time, enabling artists, students, or academics to converse or collaborate.

Currently there are portals set up in Tehran, Iran, Havana, Cuba, Herat, Afghanistan and in the United States: New York City, New Haven, Connecticut and Washington D.C.. A portal will be available in San Francisco during September and Bakshi is currently seeking help to set up more portals at specific points around the world.

New Haven, Connecticut