The world’s first Museum of Science Fiction is coming to Washington DC, with a preview facility currently in the works before a full-scale museum opens in 2018.

Set to launch by the end of 2015, the US$3m (€2.5m, £2m) Preview Museum will cover 4,000sq ft (371sq m) and will act as an area to test concept exhibitions and offer a glimpse into the process of building the final full-scale facility.

“The Preview Museum is designed to give people a sneak peek of what’s coming,” said a statement on the museum’s website. “It will allow us to collect opinions and validate our planning activities and design assumptions to make sure we get it right. The Preview Museum will also allow us to begin our programming with lectures, discussion panels, film screenings and special events.”

One of the museum’s first exhibits will explore how ideas in science fiction have become a reality, with one prominent example being the mobile phone. The museum aims to use science fiction as a tool to inspire science, engineering, technology, maths, art, history, literature and philosophy.

Jerry Vanek is operating independently as lead architect for the project. The Preview Museum has been designed to be portable for easy relocation to other locations across the US. Once the full facility opens in 2018, the Preview Museum will tour the country before being added as a permanent wing to the new facility.

For the full facility, the museum has proposed seven galleries: The Creators; Other Worlds; Vehicles; Time Travels; Aliens, Creatures and Altered Life; Computers and Robots; and Technology. Each gallery will be filled with a selection of artefacts and will display objects from the worlds of television and film, music, art, literature, comics and video games. The galleries will also include several full-sized sci-fi vehicles and wireless technology for visitors to interact with the exhibits using a smartphone.