You don’t get wet or especially cold at “Titanic: An Immersive Voyage,” but you do experience the sensation of sinking and watch a massive ship sink both via virtual reality and a massive screen.
More than a century after the Titanic hit an iceberg in the chilly Atlantic Ocean, killing more than 1,500 people, the tragedy remains a fascinating touchstone in American history, generating no shortage of books, documentaries and films as well as stand-alone museums and exhibits.
This latest trip back to the spring of 1912 is at the Exhibition Hub Arts Center in Doraville with tickets starting at about $30. It’s open every day except Tuesday.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently took in the entire experience. Here are six things worth noting:
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@
1) Honor the ship’s place in America history: The first room pays homage to the iconic 1998 James Cameron movie “Titanic” by allowing people to take selfies at a replica of the bow of the ship where Jack (Leo DiCaprio) guided Rose (Kate Winslet) to the railing at sunset as she yells “I’m flying!”
The room also displays tchotchkes such as a vaguely tasteless Titanic board game from the 1970s along with more than 150 books about Titanic published over the past 110-plus years.
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
2) Learn how and why the Titanic was built: There are multiple rooms showing how migration patterns between Europe and America created demand for ships like Titanic before airplanes became the norm. It documents the enormity of the task of building such ships using early 20th century technology and thousands of largely Irish workers.
Credit: RODNE
Credit: RODNE
3) Give the iceberg its due: Learn about the iceberg’s fateful journey and how small it actually was by the time it met with Titanic. Later, you get to stand in the crow’s nest as the berg hits the ship.
Credit: RODNEY HO/
Credit: RODNEY HO/
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@a
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@a
4) Live like a first class passenger ― and a third class one. The ship was not only large for its time but also offered accommodations for three strata of people. The exhibit provides a feel for what it was like to live like the top 1% as well as the hoi polloi in steerage. You see the types of silverware and plates used as well as what the bedrooms and dining rooms looked like.
Credit: RODNEY HO
Credit: RODNEY HO
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
4) Watch the ship sink. You get a look at a boiler room as the iceberg hits. You wander through hallways that are slightly askew as the ship lists. Then you enter a big room with floor-to-ceiling digital screens on three walls and a replica lifeboat to sit in. You then watch the ship gradually sink from different angles. While the video gives the illusion of being in real time, it condenses more than two hours of action into 15 minutes.
The final room features a four-sided glass structure honoring all known victims, broken down by crew and passenger class. Naturally, the highest survival rate was among first-class passengers.
Credit: RDNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RDNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
5) Try out the virtual reality experience. For an extra $5, you can don a virtual reality headset and take a trip down 12,500 feet in the ocean to see the present-day Titanic wreck, then jump back in time to walk parts of the ship before and after it sank. You can also move digital pieces of flotsam with your hands.
IF YOU GO
“Titanic: An Immersive Voyage”
Open every day except Tuesday, hours varying depending on day. Tickets start at $30. Exhibition Hub Atlanta Art Center, 5660 Buford Highway NE, Doraville. feverup.com
