{"id":678249,"date":"2026-01-06T18:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T18:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/678249\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T18:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T18:42:11","slug":"lego-unveils-tech-filled-smart-bricks-to-play-experts-dismay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/678249\/","title":{"rendered":"Lego unveils tech-filled Smart Bricks &#8211; to play experts&#8217; dismay"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Tom Donaldson, head of Lego&#8217;s Creative Play Lab, said the tech intended to respond to children&#8217;s actions and compliment the way they naturally play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">He said the Smart Brick&#8217;s reactions to responses would &#8220;hopefully inspire and surprise the user to keep them continuing to play&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;We are building a platform that we want to last for many years,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Prof Manches told the BBC reduced cost and size of components has &#8220;enabled more toymakers to integrate digital technology seamlessly into a range of toys&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But he added despite exciting innovation, concerns remain about the security and privacy of new and emerging smart toys for children &#8211; particularly those which integrate AI. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;The key is to us all to remain critically reflective of the design of these toys, and to pay much attention to how they influence children&#8217;s everyday lives,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It is not the first time Lego has dabbled in digital experimentation or sought to appeal to increasingly online audiences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Since 2017 it has released augmented reality apps and experiences letting people play with computer-generated models layered over their surroundings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Through collaborations with video game publishers such as Nintendo and Fortnite-maker Epic Games it has also looked to appeal to fans of trending games or new launches &#8211; releasing a Super Mario Minifigure in 2020 with a tiny display screen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Lego chief executive Niels B. Christiansen said in its 2024 Annual Report it had accelerated spending on digital technology as a &#8220;strategic area&#8221; for the company<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Donaldson, head of Lego&#8217;s Creative Play Lab, said the tech intended to respond to children&#8217;s actions and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[748,393,4884,12,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-678249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115849628754627789","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}