Global Communities Makes Connections through Portals Project

This fall, GVPT Professor Virginia Haufler, director of the Global Communities Living-Learning Program, and her students engaged in face-to-face conversations with people in Rwanda, Honduras and Gaza—without stepping foot outside the country While these weren’t in-person meetings, they were essentially face-to-face. Global Communities students participated in the Portals Project, a global public arts initiative by Shared_Studios that creates a remote interpersonal experience.

Portals are gold shipping containers outfitted with “immersive” audio and video technology inside. When students enter one, they have a full-body, on-screen encounter with someone in a distant Portal. They then converse as if in the same room. Participants sign up for 20-minute slots, and are given a simple starting prompt, such as “What would make today a good day for you?” The resulting international conversations are private and unfilmed. Conversations are meant to be human, organic and spontaneous.

The portal installation on the College Park campus was installed near the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

“The Portals Project connects you with someone in another location in the world, for a conversation that spans borders. The Portal is life-size—not like Skyping. It's really intriguing to have that random, delightful global experience,” Haufler said.

This project was made possible by the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, the Roshan Institute and Shared_Studios.

Published on Fri, Nov 18, 2016 - 11:13AM