The other day i stumbled upon a car driving around the city with a huge sensor apparatus on its roof, including a rotating system with a laser scanning everything on each side of the car.

The sensor hardware included LiDAR laser remote sensors, 360 cameras, a very accurate satellite positionning system, and a bunch of other hi-tech gadgets. The system was active and capturing huge amount of data. This a real, and Big Brother is watching you.

The car belongs to a digital mapping company called Navteq, and the Sensors System is made by a company called Topcon Positionning Systems.

It appears that Navteq is doing the mapping and street view photography for the Microsoft Bing search engine.