I’m a student who’s been going to Friends Select School for 5 years. So when I’m strolling or going to get food, I feel pretty comfortable, and I know when something new is in Philly. I was walking to school on an oddly warm fall morning. I glance to my right and notice a crowd of people around a gray circular alien technological beacon of curiosity. I got there and observed, watching people take selfies with it, using it as an iconic background piece. I had known of this mysterious tech, but I had never seen it in person; it’s called the Portal. Its innate ability to project an image of what the camera picks from a location across the world onto a screen brings out interesting sides of human nature. I witnessed people playing rock, paper, scissors and constantly waving for signs of recognition from both ends. I even heard on the news that professional dancers and regular people were dancing in front of the portal. Part of what contributes to the Portal’s popularity is the fact that it holds many locations. Besides the Portal that was moved from NewYork to Philly, there are Portals in Poland, Ireland, Brazil, Lithuania, and one coming soon to Piaui, Brazil.
With all these people in these different countries with access to this, I wonder, what kind of human behaviors will this Portal reveal? The answer to this question has an appropriate answer and an inappropriate side. I have heard two incidents of nudity flashing in front of the portal. One where a man showed his butt and another where a woman showed her chest. Can we really be surprised, though? Omegle is similar to the Portal. People were able to show any version of themselves without consequences because the other person was on a screen located across the world. Ten times the amount of body parts have been flashed on Omegle.
The mystery man behind this mysterious Portal is Benediktas Gylys. The inspiration for the Portal is to unify people from across the whole world and get over the prejudices we have against one another. Benediktas is an investor and book writer. He is also behind a company, which he named after himself in 2013, that has founded and funded other projects like building and donating codable computers to children and sponsoring young builders and engineers. The mission statement reads, “Since 2013, we aim to inspire, unite, raise consciousness and love.”
Many people think the world revolves around them and their close friends or neighborhood. In reality, life on Earth is much larger than any individual could ever be. So, I agree and support this Portal. I believe that Benediktas will continue to create symbols and, hopefully, systems that bring more humility, opportunity, and collaboration into the world.
