An enterprising Swedish designer has made online and mobile mapping loads of fun again, by layering Lego over Google Street View.
Remember when Google Street View didn’t exist? Back in 2007 when Street View first launched, it seemed like the most exciting mapping project ever devised. Hell, it was the most exciting digital mapping mission we’d ever seen.
Fast-forward eight years and, as with any seemingly magical tech, we all take Street View pretty much for granted these days. Which is why we give an appreciative nod towards Swedish designer Einar Öberg, who's cannily coded a cool layer of Lego on top of of Google Street View as part of his Brick Street View project – to allow you to see what your house looks like in Lego. Genius!
Open up Brick Street View and you’ll see a Lego woman greeting you, inviting you to take her by the hand. Simply drop your Lego peglady into the map and you’ll quickly see a Lego’ized version of your chosen location. It certainly beats spending hours building your own house in Lego, only for your three-year-old to tear it down in seconds…
Clearly, there’s little productive use for a Lego’ized version of your local city maps. But when did that ever get in the way of a designer knocking out a cool coding project?! And for coders who want to know more about how Öberg has pulled this off, you can read a detailed guide on his site.
Now, if you’ll excuse us for four hours, we’re off on a virtual tour of our favourite world cities and holiday spots to see what they look like in Lego…
Oberg’s other Street View projects include Urban Jungle street view, a similar Google Maps hack that turns your chosen location into a rainforest jungle. Fancy a Lego world tour? Head to the Brick Street View website.
Lego'ize your world