One of Lego’s latest projects is Life of George, an intriguing experiment which challenges builders to create models, them shoot them using a mobile phone app, thereby getting a rating on construction speed and accuracy. It’s a fascinating concept — an augmented reality app that scans in your build and confirms that you did it right.
The package comes with a couple bags of elements — classic System bricks, nothing weird — and a gray board that serves as the background when shooting the model. You simply build what the app tells you to as a timer ticks down, then place the model on the board and shoot it, earning your rating.
The basic storyline has you following the adventures of George, a blocky software engineer who goes on vacations and does cool stuff. You receive a bag of bricks with which you can recreate all of his adventures and other aspects of his life, like his pet turtle (above). You build your models in one layer on a “build mat” that is scanned by the app. You’re basically filling in George’s photo album and all of the models — simple, almost retro constructions — go into the photo frames when completed.
I found the speed rather challenging — intriguingly so — but I handicapped myself by not sorting my bricks first. Therefore I bet it would be a good fit for kids. Note that the app is free, but only available for the iPhone and camera-equipped iPod Touches, though an Android app is under development.
