Friday, May 23, 2008

Tunnel between London & NY?

That is the impression the Telectroscope wants to give - that there is a tunnel joining the two cities across the Atlantic and you can actually see the people on the other side. It is not entirely true however. Broadband internet plays a big part! Sounds like fun though ...



The Telectroscope may sound, and look, like a device from 1950s science fiction, but it is a newly installed instrument on the South Bank in London that allows members of the public to see across the Atlantic. Positioned near Tower Bridge, it allows people to watch and wave to their counterparts in New York, who peer through an identical scope near the Brooklyn Bridge, in real time.

It is the invention of Paul St George, a 53-year-old artist based in London Using a broadband internet connection to transmit video images between the two venues, the Telectroscope gives the impression that the cities are connected via a telescope under the Atlantic Ocean. For £1 a go, visitors can wave down the pipe, which is situated outside City Hall, and see New Yorkers waving back.

Nicky Webb, the director of the Telectroscope's production company, Artichoke, said: "There are all sorts of possibilities – you could arrange to meet friends in New York or even propose marriage down it. Schools in Southwark and New York will be twinning up and using it." (Link) (Telegraph)

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