Deep-sea explorer Robert Ballard led the team that discovered the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic in 1985. Since that time, more than 100 scientists and tourists have visited the two-mile-deep site in submersibles. Now Ballard has a high-tech plan to radically expand the number of people who can visit the beloved wreck: Equip the Titanic for real-time virtual visitation with a system of video-equipped remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) permanently installed on the ocean floor [see Popular Science’s rendition of the system in our July issue].

Oceanographer Robert Ballard is returning to the Titanic, but it’s not the same sunken ship he found in 1985. The deep ocean has been steadily dismantling the once-great cruise liner, and scientists say the process is unlike any they’ve ever seen. “Even if we could stop it, I wouldn’t,”says forensic archaeologist Charles Pellegrino.

Apparently James Cameron's Titanic obsession is genetic. His brother Mike's engineering firm, Dark Matter, custom-built two remotely operated vehicles to probe the Titanic's multitude of staterooms, stairwells and cargo spaces. Brother James then used these ROVs to help shoot the 3-D Imax documentary, Ghosts of the Abyss, which opens April 11. We spoke with the brothers about the ROVs, the Titanic and why the Navy is interested in doing business with them.

Popular Science There are plenty of ROVs out there. Why build your own?