Virtual Worlds for Educating and Entertaining

Having come down from my skydiving high on Monday there now even more cause to celebrate. Freelance work has kicked in over at the new Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC for short) on the campus grounds of Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Artists, musicians, dancers and performers from around the world have been anxiously waiting for this moment.

8 years ago area politicians donning hard hats and colorful speeches broke ground on a slippery slope overlooking downtown Troy and the Hudson river. Gigantic tension cables were buried in the ground to anchor the foundation to the 45 degree hill. Anticipation in a venue to rival the world's most technologically advanced began to grow.

$200 million and 220,000 square feet later, goals were exceeded many times over.

Visitors enter the building's lobby at the top of the hill, the 7th floor. Twin gangways cross over a three-story atrium and burrow into a cedar "monolith" big enough to house a 1,200-seat concert hall. Some say it looks like a ship squeezed into a glass bottle or a mod tv set wrapped in bubblewrap. Shiny glass elevators on the left lead to a separate 400-seat theater on the 5th floor and two black-box studios on the 6th.

Because it's built on a hill it can be disorienting for the senses. One technical director got vertigo crossing one of the bridges. Add to that immersion environments like the 3-D holodeck and 360-degree movie studio and visitors are in for a mind-bending experience.

But this cyber-driven vessel isn't just for entertaining. An IBM Blue Gene supercomputer is the heart that pumps the blood between the virtual world of super conductors and human applications. Doctors, astronomers and teachers of all curriculum can use the space to benefit science and learning.

I watched tours of Japanese business men lead from room to room, all wide-eyed and mouths ajar. You will be too when you visit.