Art and Science, Virtual and Real, Under One Big Roof

Eight years and $200 million in the making, the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, or Empac, resembles an enormous 1950s-era television set.

21st-century high-tech dreams dedicated to the marriage of art and science as it has never been done before

Within its walls, the designers say, scientists can immerse themselves in data and fly through a breaking wave or inspect the kinks in a DNA molecule

artists can participate in virtual concerts with colleagues in different parts of the world or send spectators on trips through imaginary landscapes

architects can ponder their creations from the inside before a single brick or two-by-four has been put in place

gala of performances including classical music, virtual reality rides, symposiums and celebrations

dream of eventually using the new center to create a version of the “Star Trek” holodeck where humans can interact with life-size “synthetic creatures” who live only in a computer