Aperture Science Aerial Faith Plate

The Aperture Science Aerial Faith Plate is a testing element used in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center in Portal 2.

Overview

 * Created by Aperture Science from at least 1998, this catapult plate is part of a larger trust experiment designed to help Aperture Science discover whether the capacity for trust is affected by being catapulted into space.


 * Upon contact, these platforms fling Test Subjects (and any object such as Weighted Storage Cubes, Sentry Turrets, or Personality Cores) into the air with a 50,000 pound-foot force, allowing them to bridge massive gaps or place portals in otherwise inaccessible areas.


 * Aerial Faith Plates are often used in addition to Light Bridges.


 * "Faith Plate" is a registered trademark of Aperture Science.

Behind the scenes
The Aerial Faith Plate was first introduced during the Portal ARG, in one of the ASCII art images given by the BBS, that later appeared to be a diagram depicting its functioning, as revealed by the April, 2010 issue of Game Informer. An updated and moving diagram was revealed during E3 2010.

Trivia

 * So far it is unknown why while the Aerial Faith Plate was already in use in 1998, it is not seen in the first Portal, set over 20 years later. However, it is likely that Chell simply did not venture into Test Chambers containing the Aerial Faith Plate during this time.


 * During the course of Portal 2, GLaDOS has a rather bad habit of insulting Chell about her weight, especially when it comes to the Aerial Faith Plate.


 * Aerial Faith Plates can give off a distress beacon if they fail to function properly. The blue lights on it will flash yellow and inform of required modification to function.


 * The Aerial Faith Plate was originally square.

List of appearances

 * Portal ARG
 * Portal 2