Lego is taking imaginative and collaborative play to the next level with its most tech heavy innovation yet.
On Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the company unveiled its latest creation: the Smart Play System, an interactive brick designed to respond to how kids play — and play back.
Lego calls the new Smart Play System its most innovative development since 1978, when the first minifigure came to life. The company has experimented with technology before — like in 1985 when the “Light & Sound” system was introduced, which used metal contacts and a 9-volt battery box, according to Brickipedia. The newest system builds off the same idea, but this time with modern tech and a far more interactive experience.
How does the Smart Brick work?
Simply put, when kids play, the Smart Brick plays too. Lego highlighted three key pieces that work together to make the Smart Play System come to life:
- The Smart Brick
- Smart Tags
- Smart Minifigures
The Smart Brick is a standard two-by-four Lego brick equipped with a built-in accelerometer that detects how it is being played with, like flying through the air. It also has a small speaker that makes sounds based on play actions. The brick works by recognizing Smart Tags, which tell the brick what it should become, as well as Smart Minifigures. When these minifigures are placed next to the Smart Brick, they react to the play environment with sounds, moods and responses through the brick, bringing Lego creations and play to life.
The story behind the brick
The development of the Smart Play System began in 2017, when Lego researchers studied how children want to play. They found that kids were looking for three things in a toy: the ability to play with their friends, a sense their actions mattered and received feedback, and a play experience that could evolve over time.
After pulling together a team of experts and building prototype after prototype, Lego ultimately landed on the Smart Play System.
In a statement, the company said the creators were careful to ensure the technology enhanced creativity instead of limiting it and dominating the play interaction, and they planned to avoid taking “attention away from the physical play experience.”
When will the Smart Brick be available?
The Smart Brick, along with the Smart Tags and Smart Minifigures, will debut in upcoming Star Wars sets, including Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter, Luke’s Red Five X-wing and Star Wars Throne Room Duel & A-wing building set. The sets will retail at $69.99, $99.99 and $159.99 respectively.
The decision to launch the Smart Play System with Star Wars sets is because, as Lego puts it, Star Wars is “the perfect playground for epic storytelling, unforgettable characters and endless brick-built adventures.”
Lego detailed sets will be available for preorder on Jan. 9, and available for purchase on March 1 in select markets.
The Lego Smart Brick is receiving mixed reactions from Lego enthusiasts on X, ranging from “2026 is awesome already” because of the new tech to the sets now being “overpriced and underwhelming” because of the new additions.