Installing a video gateway in the middle of a public park in New York City is likely to trigger some improper behaviour. Benediktas Gylys, a Lithuanian artist and entrepreneur, envisioned The Portal as a way to unite people and allow them to share similar experiences.
The great majority of those who visited the gateway on both sides of the Atlantic waved to one another, brought their children and dogs, and generally behaved like nice people once it opened earlier this month. Some people, nevertheless, misbehaved; one guy mooned the gateway, and an OnlyFans model flashed it.
Officials on both sides agreed it would be preferable to pause when some people on the Dublin side displayed swastikas and images of the Twin Towers on fire. The primary issue was that individuals who mounted cameras directly on the portal camera obstructed visitors to the exhibit from observing what lay beyond. 
One of the several measures the organisers took was to erect a temporary barrier around the portal to deter anyone from approaching it directly. To further promote more cordial exchanges, they now have one or two guides directing the event.
As of now, it will operate from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. in New York City and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. in Dublin, less than the full 24 hours that Gylys had planned.
Head of Partnerships at Portals.org Nicolas Klaus says they weren’t prepared for the behaviour because they hadn’t seen it at a previous Portal installation between Poland and Lithuania. Dubliners and New Yorkers provided a distinct energy.
There was certain improper conduct. Klaus said, “You saw this with someone flashing a picture of 9/11. We don’t know what that person’s intention was, but it was just irritating.” It also went against the creative ethos of the show, he said. Offering a portal through which individuals may communicate is the creative goal. The project should not focus on a situation where a single person blocks the entire screen by simply placing their palm on the Portal camera.
Software to stop individuals from obstructing the camera was one solution. While the portal was down, Video Window, the firm that develops the software that powers it, devised a machine learning approach to deter users from doing that.
According to Video Window CEO Daryl Hutchings, setting the software’s operating hours was simple, but figuring out how to prevent people from bringing their phones up to the Portal camera proved more challenging.
“We’re going to essentially blur the local camera feed instantly if a phone or someone’s hand covers the camera view for more than a certain length of time.”This implies that the distant side will see a fuzzy picture. Hutchings continued, “We’re also blurring it on the local display.” It also displays a notice indicating that the behaviour is illegal on the side where it is occurring.
The goal is to simply demonstrate that blocking the camera is not allowed. We are experimenting with the blurring duration, but since the portal reopened on Sunday, no event has occurred to trigger the blur. This implies that, as the architects anticipated and hoped, the fence and human guides are promoting more constructive interactions.
