LEGOs are all about the possible: what can you build when you get a full box? I spent a good part of my childhood browsing our LEGO collection at home and building all kinds of gadgets and gadgets. My older brother, when he didn’t beat me up, would join in sometimes, and we would spend hours building all kinds of structures we could think of – that’s probably why he’s an architect now and I’m an amateur boxer. He learned to build; I learned how to throw a good punch. Both are useful life skills.
However, the hard thing about LEGOs – especially if you’ve been collecting them for a while – is keeping track of what you have. After a while everything just fits together and some parts are lost. Not having a keen sense of what you have and in what amounts is especially irritating when you’re trying to build something in particular only to lose the right pieces before you’re done.
How to use Brickit, the new LEGO scanning app
A new app called Brick, available for download from the App Store, scans your LEGOs to create an inventory of your collection. This includes counting the total number of stones as well as sorting them by size. All you have to do is spread out your LEGOs on a flat surface and take a picture, and the app will suggest different characters to build with the bricks in your collection, including step-by-step instructions .
Some of the suggested figurines you can make include a platypus, typewriter, racing car, train, and peacock, while more are undoubtedly more to come in the coming weeks. Brickit even shows you where the LEGOs are in the stack you just scanned. If you’re not quite the size or color of the blocks, the spirit of LEGO building encourages you to be creative.
This app is still in beta, which means it still has quirks and limitations. For starters, it’s only available for Apple products, although an Android version is slated to come out in the fall. It also doesn’t scan the Duplo series or any part of Techno yet.
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However, apart from the limitations, it helps to open up a world of possibilities. So get out your LEGOs, take a picture and start building.
