Bridging cultures and understanding people from different nations is an arduous task. There are so many avenues and mediums to learn about different cultures ranging from books to movies, lectures, songs, poetry, blogs, social media and the like. But imagine something different, something more real and interactive. Imagine walking into a room and seeing a wormhole to another part of the world. Imagine you and a total stranger from a different culture are face to face with each other. What do you say? What would you talk about? Could you build rapport and understanding?

Shared Studios is a multidisciplinary arts, design and technology collective focused on carving "wormholes" throughout the world. Their project, Portals, are gold shipping containers with immersive audio and video technology inside. When you enter one, you come face-to-face with someone in the other container, full-body, and the two of you converse live as if in the same room. Shared Studios connected more than one thousand people in Tehran, New York and New Haven in private conversations.

Now their new Portal is going live and forging a portal between Washington D.C and Herat, Afghanistan. Located in Georgetown University and Hariwa University, anyone in the public in both Washington and Herat can come face to face and talk to one another.