
Jules Verne goes 20,000 leagues under Google
By Melissa Bell
Jules Verne (Roger Viollet Collection/Getty Images)
Get your sea legs ready. Google's latest interactive logo, to go live on Tuesday, celebrates Jules Verne's 183rd birthday, and it may induce seasickness. In honor of Verne's most famous novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the logo has been transformed into the portholes of a submarine. A driving panel allows the viewer to take on the vaunted role of Captian Nemo and dive the submarine to the depths of the digital ocean, where shipwrecks and a giant squid dwell. The logo duplicates the swaying of the sea so accurately, wooziness may ensue.
Verne, born on Feb. 8, 1828, was known for his provocative science-fiction novels that contained major scientific advancements -- such as the submarine, airplanes and the moon landing -- long before they existed in real life. The logo is already live in Australia, but should be up around the world by Tuesday morning.