Ground shipping

Historic space transforms to send visitors on virtual ocean voyages

FROM the outside, it looks like a normal office building. It’s only after you enter that you’re transported into something like a nautical wonderland.

D.S. “Dream Ship” DestiNY, is a new, augmented-reality experience unfolding at the Financial District’s historic Cunard Building. What was once a trans-Atlantic ticketing office for the firm’s steamship line has been turned into a portal to a digitally enhanced, 35-minute adventure.

Unlike virtual reality, which requires a headpiece to see a 360-degree rendition of a digital space, this show projects the action onto the architecture and walls. It’s something like an Imax experience, but all around the viewer, not just on a screen in the front of a theater.

You’ll walk from the lobby to the show through a “transition area,” where it becomes dark and you start to hear sounds. Entering the ballroom is an experience comparable to that of Dorothy waking up in Oz. Everything around you gleams and moves. It’s a visceral and hypnotic environment, with the pings of a piano and a xylophone turning into a tune.

The show takes place on the 60-foot high dome and the walls in the Cunard Ballroom. It begins with a film of fireworks exploding and light buzzing around the 1,200-square-foot space.

Whether you stand, wander or sit, a ship builds itself around you, taking you from Europe to New York City. The voice of the ship’s captain narrates the story.

Visitors looking to their sides will see water, making the imaginary boat ride seem almost real.

During the jouney, you'll see images of the city throughout its history — from tenement buildings and flappers on Broadway, to street rappers and graffiti, to modern skyscrapers — visions off what NYC is destined to become. It’s certainly a different way to see our town.

Through Jan. 6, 2019. $19 ages 6 to 17; $29 adults. 25 Broadway; DSDestiny.com