Google Open Sources Liquid Galaxy! Build Your Own Or Buy One — For $80,000!

I still think Google’s coolest 20 percent project of all time is Liquid Galaxy. You know, the “eight 55-inch LCD screens showing Google Earth in a unified, surround view” thing that Google sets up around to different conferences they are a part of. It’s sort of like the Star Trek Holodeck. It’s awesome.

And now you can build your own — or buy one! Google has open-sourced the entire project, including the Ubuntu sysadmin scripts to the mechanical design of the custom frames. And they’ve released a new version of the public Google Earth that supports it.

Of course, Google realizes that most people may not have the skills and/or the means to actually build their own — so there are other options too. Google set up a quick-start page to help you, or you can contact their supplier, End Point, who can build your own version for you.

The cost? $72,000 to $80,000 — plus maintenance.

Or you can buy just the parts you need separately.