The Telectroscope, London's window on New York

It looks like something from the Victorian era, and its name sounds like a device from 1950s science fiction. The Telectroscope is an extraordinary new device that allows people in London to see across the Atlantic.

Positioned at a spot near Tower Bridge, it allows people to watch their counterparts in New York, peering through an identical scope near the Brooklyn Bridge.



It is the invention of Paul St George, a 53-year-old artist in based in London who - using broadband internet cable to transmit video images between the two venues at high speed - gives the impression that the two cities are connected via a telescope under the Atlantic sea.

For £1 a go, people will be able to wave down a massive viewing pipe into the earth and see New Yorkers waving back.



It is the first time that spectators will be able to have a real-time, life-size view across the pond 24 hours a day.

Nicky Webb, the director of the Telectroscope production company, Artichoke, said: “You are not going to spend four hours looking down this Telectroscope, but there are all sorts of lovely possibilities, you could arrange to meet friends in New York or even propose marriage down it!”

With slideshow.