Portals (initiative)

Portals is a global public art initiative that connects people around the globe through real-time video audiovisual technology housed inside a gold-painted, converted shipping container or other structure.

Notable project participants have included U.S. president Barack Obama, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and Google founder Sergey Brin.

[9][10][11] Computer science professor Omid Habibi then became interested in the project and decided to create a Portal at Hariwa University in Herat, Afghanistan, which then launched in March 2015.

[13] According to Bakshi, he originally had wanted to strip the shipping containers of paint, buff them, and repaint them, but this process proved to be too expensive and bad for the environment.

The sessions typically last 20 minutes, and participants are asked an open-ended questions such as “What would make today a good day for you?” to get the conversation going.