Hasta La Ideas

Every once in a while, you’ll see a brilliant innovator steal the march on a major corporation. Czech entrepreneur Iva Papoušková developed a smartphone app called Brick My World, which uses photogrammetry to generate Lego instructions for any object you photograph. Lego, the company has to be kicking themselves for not thinking of this first; I wouldn’t be surprised if they either purchase Papoušková’s company or lawyer him out of business.

Here’s how it works:

Brick My World has been handily Kickstarted, with 6 days left to pledge at press time. Sadly the app is, like many digital products these days, subscription-based; it will eventually cost $200 a year, which harried parents or Lego fanatics may see as chump change. On Kickstarter, however, they’re offering lifetime access for a one-time $99 charge.