Google on Tuesday plunged its users 20,000 leagues under the sea with its new innovative Doodle to mark French science fiction writer Jules Gabriel Verne's 183rd birthday.
The Google logo on February 8 takes the form of the portholes of a submarine with an interactive lever on the side that can be flicked up, down or sideways to plunge the machine deeper into the sea. Through the portholes, users get a glimpse of the various forms of marine life.
A pioneer in his time, Verne is considered the father of the science fiction genre, who foresaw various inventions such as space, air, and underwater travel much before practical submarines, airplanes or spaceships were invented.
The doodle honours Verne's most famous fiction 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea' (1870), which tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine 'Nautilus' as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax.
Some of Verne's ideas about the not-yet-invented submarines which were laid out in this book turned out to be prophetic, such as the high speed and secret conduct of today's nuclear attack submarines, and the need to surface frequently for fresh air.
But Verne evidently had no idea of the problems of water pressure, depicting his submarine as capable of diving freely into even the deepest of ocean depths.
Verne is also the author of the classics 'A Journey to the Center of the Earth' (1864), and 'Around the World in Eighty Days' (1873). He is the third most translated individual author in the world. Some of his books have been made into films.
Google doodles have gained immense popularity over the past few years and the Google team has put out commemorative doodles on events ranging from news events, civic milestones, birthdays, death anniversaries and important dates in history.
Doodles have celebrated the Fourth of July, the Olympics, and John Lennon's 70th birthday. The Google team put up an elaborate holiday doodle for Christmas last year that took five artists about 250 hours to make.
Google estimates it has created more than 900 doodles since 1998, with 270 of them running in 2010. Some appear globally, and others are tailored for local markets outside the US, such as Kenya Independence Day.
