This 24/7 BGC Portal Lets You Interact With Strangers From Around the World

(SPOT.ph) If you’ve been to Bonifacio High Street lately, you may have noticed a large circular structure quietly drawing a crowd. That’s the Manila Portal, a new public installation in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) that connects the city to other parts of the world through a real-time video feed.

The installation is part of the global Portals Organization project, which links public spaces through real-time video feeds. The BGC version sits along 5th Avenue in Bonifacio High Street, and once it’s live, it runs 24/7—meaning there’s always someone on the other side, whether that’s in the United States, Ireland, or the United Kingdom.

Physically, the Portal looks exactly how it sounds like it should: a large circular structure with a screen at the center, positioned at street level. There’s no audio, no touch controls, and no instructions. People simply stand in front of it and interact visually—through waving, prolonged eye contact, or what have you.

There have been wholesome moments—like newlyweds stopping by to say hello or strangers on opposite sides of the screen breaking the ice with a quick round of rock-paper-scissors.

The Manila installation is a pretty big deal for the project, too. According to Portals Organization, this is the first Portal in Asia, joining existing ones in Vilnius, Lithuania; Lublin, Poland; Dublin, Ireland; Philadelphia, United States; and Ipswich, United Kingdom, with another one planned in Piauí, Brazil.

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If this concept sounds familiar, it’s likely because earlier Portals went viral for... being misused. In the New York–Dublin Portal, some visitors flashed sensitive images, made obscene gestures, or tried to provoke reactions from the other side. The New York installation was later closed and relocated to Philadelphia, with the creators maintaining that the site was always intended to be temporary.

Those earlier incidents also offer a clear preview of what not to do—and some of it is already playing out in BGC.

There have been flashes caught on camera, including one memorable moment involving someone turning around and baring their butt to the screen.

Of course, flipping off the people on the other side of the world has also become a recurring bit. Here we have two Dublin girls flipping us off.

And then there’s a more... strategic use of the Portal. The screen has apparently become a place to hunt for dates (who else is in their AFAM era?), with people holding up their phones to exchange Instagram handles in real time.

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