If you’re both into building block models in virtual environments like in Minecraft or in real life like with Lego, you might enjoy the Kible building blocks. Jason Brain, from Seattle, has now launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to turn his vision into reality, with the help of like-minded people.
What’s Kible about?
The Kible building block system is a little more complex if you compare it with competition like Lego. That doesn’t make it better or worse, but it’s different. What makes the Kible blocks a bit more special is the fact that you can not only stack the blocks on top of each other but also connect them on their sides. One such block is referred to as a kible or many kibles.
What’s the app for?
Kible comes with an app for your smartphone or tablet. The app lets you build your models virtually first, in augmented reality if you want, and after you’re done, you can order the exact items that you used to build that model. Once you received the Kible blocks, the app lets you switch through your model creation step by step, allowing you to use it as an instructions manual.
Community aspect
The people behind Kible want the solution to get a community feeling. Therefore, they let you register an account and allow you to share the models that you created. Of course, you can also browse, rate, comment, and build the models that other’s did before.
Inventory management
The app also lets you manage your building block inventory. If you ordered a couple of blocks, they know what and how many blocks you own and how many you’d need to purchase on top if you were to order for a new model of yours. If some blocks end up lost, they also let you manually fix this inventory or you can re-order the blocks that went missing.
What are the costs?
There is no clear pricing guideline yet, but based on the video demo, we could tell that the planned pricing for a model with 368 blocks would be about $13.53 plus a shipping and handling fee of another $15.53.
As per Rhett Allain, on Wired, one Lego block’s estimated cost is 10.4 cents. If you’d buy the same amount of Lego blocks, you’d pay roughly about $38 (give or take, depending on the type of blocks). So, the kibles are likely to come in a little cheaper than the Lego pieces.
Summary
Many have tried to attack the Lego monopoly before, and that is not an easy endeavor. The Kible solution seems like a solid idea, and if they manage to turn the concept into a marketable product, they’ll eventually establish a spot for themselves in the market to “build upon”.
YouTube: Kible – When Lego Meets Minecraft
Photo credit: Kible
Source: Source information has been referenced directly in the article.
