{"id":497135,"date":"2026-01-06T19:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/497135\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T19:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:04:12","slug":"lego-unveils-tech-filled-smart-bricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/497135\/","title":{"rendered":"Lego unveils tech-filled Smart Bricks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shiona McCallum,Senior technology reporter, CES in Las Vegas,<\/p>\n

Liv McMahonand<\/p>\n

Emma Calder,Technology reporters<\/p>\n

\"AFPAFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Lego has unveiled Smart Bricks – tech-filled versions of its small building blocks – which it says will bring sets to life with sound, light and reaction to movement.<\/p>\n

However, the new product range is causing unease among play experts, who say it risks undermining what makes Lego special for children in an increasingly digital world.<\/p>\n

Announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas, the Danish toymaker’s Smart Play system introduces new electronic components to the classic plastic blocks.<\/p>\n

Lego says its new tech-enabled products, launching in March with a new Star Wars set, are its “most revolutionary innovation” in nearly 50 years.<\/p>\n

But Josh Golin, executive director of children’s wellbeing group Fairplay, believes Smart Bricks <\/b>“undermine what was once great about Legos” – harnessing children’s own imagination during play.<\/p>\n

“As anyone who has ever watched a child play with old-school Legos knows, children’s Lego creations already do move and make noises through the power of children’s imaginations,” he told the BBC. <\/p>\n

“But with the release of Smart Bricks, Lego is taking play out of the hands of children and putting it into the tiny sensors of these so-called ‘smart’ devices.”<\/p>\n

Andrew Manches, professor of children and technology at the University of Edinburgh, agreed the beauty of Lego lay in “the freedom to create, re-create, and adapt simple blocks into endless stories powered by children’s imagination”.<\/p>\n

But he also welcomed Lego’s efforts to integrate physical and digital play with tools that react to the way children interact with its Smart Play products.<\/p>\n

Julia Goldin, the company’s chief product and marketing officer, previously told the BBC it viewed digital technology as an opportunity to “expand physical play and physical building”.<\/p>\n

“We don’t look at the digital world as a threat,” she said – adding its smart range weaves interactivity “seamlessly” with its physical products.<\/p>\n

What are Lego Smart Bricks?<\/p>\n

Lego says its Smart Bricks can sense motion, position and distance, allowing the models to respond in various ways during play.<\/p>\n

Measuring 2×4, the brick itself contains sensors, lights, a small sound synthesiser, an accelerator and a custom-made silicon chip enabling it to detect movement and react to it.<\/p>\n

But it is designed to be used with Smart Minifigures and Smart Tags tiles – two additional products making up Lego’s Smart Play System.<\/p>\n

Similarly adapted from existing Lego components, these possess digital identifiers triggering different sounds or reactions when they detect and interact with each other.<\/p>\n

For instance, when tried out by the BBC at CES, a Lego birthday cake recognised when its “candles” were blown out – sounding a cheer and a happy birthday song.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a Lego helicopter made whooshing sounds when moved or rotated, with its Smart Brick lighting up red upon crashing.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Using a wireless system developed by Lego, the three models communicate with each other to produce particular responses through the Smart Brick.<\/p>\n

Tom Donaldson, head of Lego’s Creative Play Lab, said the tech intended to respond to children’s actions and complement the way they naturally play.<\/p>\n

He said the Smart Brick’s reactions to responses would “hopefully inspire and surprise the user to keep them continuing to play”.<\/p>\n

“We are building a platform that we want to last for many years,” he said.<\/p>\n

Prof Manches told the BBC reduced cost and size of components has “enabled more toymakers to integrate digital technology seamlessly into a range of toys”.<\/p>\n

But he added despite exciting innovation, concerns remain about the security and privacy of new and emerging smart toys for children – particularly those which integrate AI. <\/p>\n

“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’s everyday lives,” he said.<\/p>\n

It is not the first time Lego has dabbled in digital experimentation or sought to appeal to increasingly online audiences.<\/p>\n

Since 2017 it has released augmented reality apps and experiences letting people play with computer-generated models layered over their surroundings.<\/p>\n

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 – releasing a Super Mario Minifigure in 2020 with a tiny display screen.<\/p>\n

Lego chief executive Niels B. Christiansen said in the firm\u2019s 2024 annual report it had accelerated spending on digital technology as a “strategic area” for the company.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shiona McCallum,Senior technology reporter, CES in Las Vegas, Liv McMahonand Emma Calder,Technology reporters AFP via Getty Images Lego…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":497136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-497135","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-technology","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115849715182805923","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}