LEGO introduced a new Smart Play system with advanced sensors and a tiny computer embedded into a standard-sized brick to bring real-time lights and sounds to its classic building sets without relying on screens.
Unveiled at the consumer electronics industry trade show CES in Las Vegas, the platform centers on the Smart Brick, which matches the dimensions of a 2×4 LEGO piece but is packed with a custom 4.1-millimeter ASIC chip running a bespoke Play Engine. It includes an LED light array, accelerometers, light and sound sensors, and a miniature speaker that uses the brick’s internal spaces for amplification. The system generates immediate audio effects through an analog synthesizer, avoiding prerecorded clips.
Developed by LEGO’s Creative Play Lab in partnership with Capgemini’s Cambridge Consultants, the technology features a self-organizing network using a Bluetooth-based “BrickNet” protocol, allowing multiple Smart Bricks to detect each other’s positions, distances, and orientations without apps or hubs. A copper coil handles recognition of compatible components, while the battery supports wireless charging for several bricks at once and remains functional after extended inactivity.
Firmware updates and diagnostics occur through a proprietary app, but the system lacks internet connectivity, cameras, or AI. LEGO emphasized enhanced encryption and privacy controls to meet its safety standards.
The microphone serves as an input sensor rather than for recording, according to company spokesperson Jessica Benson.
“I’ve seen it where you blow on it, if you put it on a birthday cake, for instance, it makes things happen,” Benson said, according to The Verge. “It’s very much used as another sensor point, it’s not recording any details, it’s just picking up those inputs that are to do with sound and reacting in real time to what the kids are doing with it.”
Smart Minifigures appear identical to traditional ones but contain internal chips with unique digital IDs. Smart Tags, as 2×2 studless tiles, also carry IDs and connect via near-field magnetic links to trigger context-specific responses based on placement or movement.
LEGO described the innovation as “the most significant evolution in the LEGO System-in-Play since the introduction of the LEGO Minifigure in 1978,” claiming more than 20 patented advancements. It quietly tested the tech in a 2024 LEGO City set and plans further expansions through updates and launches.
The debut arrives March 1 with three Star Wars-themed kits, available for preorder starting January 9. A $100, 584-piece Luke’s Red Five X-Wing includes one Smart Brick, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Smart Minifigs, and five Smart Tags for effects like laser sounds, engine roars, refueling, and repairs.
A $70, 473-piece Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter comes with one Smart Brick, a TIE Fighter Smart Tag, and a Darth Vader Smart Minifig for ion engine sounds. The $160, 962-piece Throne Room Duel features two Smart Bricks, Smart Minifigs of Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, and Luke Skywalker, and five Smart Tags to simulate the Return of the Jedi lightsaber clash with humming sword effects and “The Imperial March” playback.
Spokesperson Jack Rankin noted the tags foster creative combinations, such as blending unrelated elements for unexpected play. When early testers paired a duck-sound tag with a helicopter, “they enjoyed having a duck helicopter, too,” Rankin said, per The Verge.
Katriina Heljakka, a play-learning researcher at the University of Turku in Finland and a member of the International Toy Research Association, acknowledged potential hacking risks despite LEGO’s precautions.
“There has been a lot of conversation about ‘internet of toys’ and the risk of hacking into these systems, especially with AI. I can see a similar threat being introduced with hackers spying for opportunities to hack everyday items,” she said, Wired reported. “LEGO will have done its utmost trying to make this not happen once these toys get in use, but the threat is looming.”
Still, Heljakka suggested the interactive features could counter critiques of LEGO’s shift toward adult-oriented display sets.
“LEGO entered this market where they see adults can build decoration things, where it goes on the shelf, and that’s it. But I would say this kind of product could be successful as an intergenerational play item,” she said. “It connects parents and children to do something together, to make these kinds of discoveries with the materials and technology. This might be the way to connect technology with a traditional toy like LEGO and get families doing toy play together.”