Portal will help bring people to town, says leader

Neil MacDonald, Labour councillor, said the portal could help attract more businesses to the town

A council leader said he hoped a newly installed portal that provided a real-time visual link to another destination would "drive more footfall" into a town.

Ipswich Borough Council launched the portal earlier, which is positioned outside Ipswich Town Hall and has a two-way, live video feed with a different location.

The council's planning committee backed plans for the structure in May, on the condition it would be in place for five years rather than being a permanent fixture.

Neil MacDonald, the leader of the Labour-led council, said: "We are trying to get people to come here and stay in the town centre to drive more footfall, and that will help us to get more business in the town centre."

The installation was part of the Digital Ipswich programme, which was delivered by the authority with financial support from the government's Towns Fund.

The portal will operate between 06:00- 23:00, with measures in place - such as CCTV - to monitor the structure.

The portal is positioned outside Ipswich Town Hall

The portal replicated others already operating in Dublin, Philadelphia, US, and Vilnius, Lithuania.

At the opening, MacDonald said: "It has been great there was a big crowd when we did the switch on and that shows that people will hang around here."

He said it "will be even more interesting and drive people to come back" when more portals are opened.

Benediktas Gylys said he came up with the idea after seeing how people connected over social media

The installation was created by Benediktas Gylys, a Lithuanian artist and entrepreneur, and allowed passers-by to see and interact with people in different locations in real time.

Mr Gylys said he had the idea for the portal after he was unable to understand the "separation and hatred" of humans on social media.

"I feel really happy, and inspired, and grateful to work on such projects and bring it to our real human family," he said.

Future locations for similar portals have been planned for Manila, Philippines, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.