In the basement of a newly renovated building in
Colorado, an army of people in uniform and
shirtsleeves is working on a map of North America
unlike any ever created. It is a
multidimensional, multimedia, top secret
compendium of very specific data accumulating at
a dizzying rate. The ultimate dream of those
behind it is to be able to point to any block in
any city in the United States and gain instant
access to the expanding universe of digitized
information for that location, from speed cameras
to wireless network signals, street level
photography and video, property records,
electricity consumption, floor plans and security
layouts, even traffic light sequences. Also
incoming would be ultra-high-resolution imagery
that can peer into backyards, and other advanced
technologies available to pinpoint activity
inside the walls of an office building, power
station, or with proper approval, a private home,
from the living room to the bathroom to the
children's bedrooms.
