© Mattgirling
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We’ve been going back and forth between two different Google Earth technologies, and we honestly don’t know which one we think is cooler. The first is this immersion chamber that some of their engineers built, where you enter a gazebo with 8 full-sized LCD panels displaying Google Earth. The effect is like you’re in a glass spaceship, soaring from point to point on the planet and into orbit. You can fly anywhere Google Earth can go, which is anywhere. Mindbendingly awesome. Picture:
© Google Lat-Long Blog
The second toy is this Google Earth GPS system they’ve integrated into the new Audi A8. It comes with all of the normal stuff you’d expect from a Google GPS – Google Maps, Local Search, etc – but it also brings with it all of Google Earth’s additional data. That means not only more detailed terrain views and satellite imagery, but also all the layers like Wikipedia and user tags. Also – and this part is important – it’s built into a car that we quite simply covet. Picture:
© Google Lat-Long Blog
So we really don’t know. On one hand the Liquid Galaxy not only lets you fly through space but also back in time and to the bottom of the ocean. On the other hand, there’s a certain James Bond chic to the Audi. We’re probably leaning toward the immersion chamber on account of the spaceship and flying around in virtual reality thing. But still: Audi.