National Geographic Offers An Interactive Look At The Birth Of The Titanic
March 29, 2012
The Titanic, as anyone who've seen the 1997 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet is aware of (Really, who hasn't seen that movie?), sank into the depths of the ocean after hitting an iceberg en route to New York City. Claiming the lives of over a thousand passengers, the tragedy occurred on April 15, 1912, five days after the supposedly unsinkable ship left the dock.
This April marks the 100th anniversary of that fateful maiden voyage of the Titanic. In line with the centennnial commemoration, a number of special media features and events have been organized. No doubt the most anticipated among these is director James Cameron's 3D rerelease of the aforementioned blockbuster film. For its part, the National Geographic Channel is set to air a two-night Titanic event beginning April 8. Also, the National Geographic Society has released a commemorative app called Building Titanic.
Designed specifically for the iPad, Building Titanic lets you discover the history of the Titanic minus the sentimental love story of Jack and Rose. Instead, you’ll be engaged in an interactive timeline that proves just how big an engineering marvel the ship was. Presented in a visually appealing manner, the interactive offers a trip through time, showing how the Titanic was built in the Belfast shipyards of Harland & Wolff over the course of two years.
Building Titanic highlights more than 50 key points in the ship's construction period. In doing so, the app makes use of more than 100 relevant photos as well as an archival film. The app also includes previews of documentaries about the Titanic made by James Cameron and notable ocean explorer Robert Ballard, which are going to be shown also on the National Geographic Channel.
Building Titanic is now available in the App Store for free. Remember that joke about buying an iShip only to see it syncing? That has absolutely nothing to do with this.
