Straight out of Asimov, architects at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) have a plan to build a massive digital cloud structure above London's skyline.

The Cloud, which has been shortlisted in a competition to build a tourist attraction in the Olympic Park with a lasting legacy, would feature 400 foot-tall mesh towers topped with solar powered plastic bubbles that show images, data and highlights including a "barometer of the city's interests and moods" outside (that latter bit comes courtesy of the group's partnership with Google).

As if that wasn't enough, the whole thing also promises to be funded entirely by micro-payments from the public (which would also determine its final size), and be completely self-powered as ramps, stairs, and lifts carry tourists to the top of the cloud. Once inside the structure, viewers would have a sweeping view of the city below. Despite displaying a constant stream of data, the cloud wouldn't take any power from the grid. Instead, it could generate all its own energy from a regenerative braking system and solar cells located on the ground and in the plastic spheres.

Even if the Cloud isn't chosen as the winner in the city's competition, the MIT designers are determined to build it. To that end, they have launched a fund-raising website in the hopes that millions of people will provide small donations. Want to help make the Cloud a reality? Check out the site at www.raisethecloud.org