Applications of the LEGO Brick

[-R8-]

To all of us, LEGO is much more than a child's toy. It is a hobby that brought us all here to Eurobricks, a hobby that has united people from all around the world. LEGO may be related to some of your careers and vocations. Many of us treat the LEGO brick as an art medium, whether to convey a message across or just to create something aesthetically beautiful. Of course, none of us can forget our childhood memories that LEGO played a huge role in

In the past decades however, LEGO has proven to be used as a tool for innovation and educational purposes. One notable use of LEGO has been within the education industry, specifically in science and technology education. But even before a kid goes to school, LEGO can be used to help develop motor skills and hand coordination from a very early age. At early childhood, kids who do play with LEGO are learning how to manipulate materials at an early age, and that kinesthetic learning is further reinforced by the incremental advances in the LEGO Education line as the kid gets older (WeDo, Mindstorms).

Within the business sector, LEGO Serious Play has encouraged and fostered creative thinking and team building. It also creates opportunities for better management and decision making. To name an example, Google is probably one of the more well-known companies that utilize Serious Play.

Seeing as what LEGO has to offer in both business and education, what other possibilities could the brick hold? How have you seen LEGO being used in a way previously unknown to you before? How can we as LEGO enthusiasts strive to find new, innovative, and creative ways to use LEGO in an application that benefits society?

[Superkalle]

Benefits society? Well, I dunno, bu I use Lego bricks under some of my furniture legs to take up the unevenness of the floor

No, but seriously, it's an interesting topic you've brought up. I know TLG has experimented with (and supported) many business oriented applications over the years:

Lego InMotion

Modulex

SeriousPlay

Production Plant Visualization

Lean Manufacturing games

Mindstorms / robotics learning at universities

LDD/Virtual building

Right now however, I get the feeling TLG is going back to the roots and are focusing on their core business - Toys.

EDIT: Regarding how Lego can be used for everyday objects, I recall seeing a site/blogg about this some time ago. A long list of really cool uses of Lego that people had discovered. But this was more on a household/personal level rather then business.

[Piratedave84]

In the line of education,

One of my colleague's daughter has a motor skill disability and has difficulties in calculating things, she knows the number but cannot add them together.

So one day we sat down together with a bunch of 2x2's in different colors and 16x16 plates and made what can basically be called some addition tables where the number is divided by color (4 = 1 red + 3 blue or 2 red + 2 blue or 3 red + 1 blue).

Since then the child has become much more intent on doing math homework (she loves it) her control over her hands and fine motor skills has increased 3 folds and the parents are very pleased with the result.

I being an AFOL truly believe there is MUCH more to the brick than making houses, cars and MOC's (not that I don't love doing so!! ). Eveytime I have a chance to promote the brick or find a new way to use it I am most gald to do so.

Pirate

Edited June 10, 2010 by Piratedave84

[HumanPackMule]

I like to lay 2x4 bricks on my floor at night to prevent rude awakenings. Nothing worse than stepping on a Lego brick with bare feet

[-R8-]

I read an article several years ago about how the LEGO Mindstorms RCX was used to capture a petty thief who had kept on stealing mail from someone's mailbox. Although the notion sounds silly when considering the fact that much more sophisticated technology is available, it would be somewhat humorous to try and use LEGO Mindstorms for law enforcement.

Perhaps one "official" application of this, albeit in a fantastical way, was in that old online RCX game "Robohunter II." I doubt that using an RCX car to spy on suspected criminals would be the authorities' first tool choice but it was a cool concept to explore. It probably would be more appropriate on a household level.

Edited June 12, 2010 by -R8-

[Eilif]

Benefits society....

I had a similar train of thought a few years ago, so I got a few other AFOL's (Hinkley, Beth Weis, Shaun Reeves Gary and I) together and we started Building In Lawndale (BILd).

It's not a big program, but every semester we accept 10 3rd grade boys from the Chicago inner-city neighborhood of North Lawndale. On 10 consectutive Thursday evenings we take two hours to use LEGO to reinforce math skills, simple machines, community mindedness, group participation skills, and more. Most of the last two weeks are spent assembling a LEGO kit that they get to keep(We fundraise from AFOL's to buy the sets).

Shameless plug: If you want to donate or find out more, check out the link in my signature to our -very spartan- webpage.

Also, I don't know all the details, but Beth also uses LEGO to facilitate free play-days for children on the autism spectrum and their parents at the Deerfield, IL Park District. Reportedly, LEGO is an awesome medium for autistic children.

[chris_austin]

I can't remember the details but isn't there a wall somewhere that was damaged for some reason and LEGO bricks were used to patch it up?

Oh, then it turned out that it was Megapoop bricks instead.

Nice idea though.