What if the toys you played with as a child could interact with you, or sense and respond to the world around them? Well, LEGO has made their newest invention by combining creativity and technology. LEGO has introduced the SMART Play System, which includes the SMART Brick, SMART Tags, and SMART Minifigures.
Lego is a classic brand, with the first interlocking Lego bricks introduced all the way back in 1949!
While Lego has always been known as a hands-on, screen-free toy, the company has now sought to take it to the next level. This new system helps Lego figurines bring builds to life with sounds and lights.
What is a smart brick? And what can it do?
The Smart Brick is a 2 by 4 brick that has motion sensors to add light reaction and sound to your creation.
The sound from the Smart Brick is generated in real time by an internal synthesizer by detecting nearby Smart Tags and Smart Minifigures. Smart Tags tell the brick what an object or a LEGO vehicle is.
A smart Lego minifigure is a special figurine that is embedded with a smart tag that interacts with Lego’s Smart Brick. You add the Smart Minifigure onto a Smart Brick to activate their unique personalities. The newest Lego sets with the Smart Brick are the Darth Vader TIE Fighter set, Luke Skywalker’s red five X-wing set, Throne room duel, and a wing set. These Lego sets are going to be able to interact with builders.
The new Lego sets are going to be around $70 to $160 USD and will be released on March 1, 2026.
There is a LEGO SMART Assist app for parents. The app helps parents to control the LEGO Smart brick and its settings, also updates new play features. Kids do not need any source of apps to play with or use the new bricks.
When LEGO was developing the SMART play system, it was their intention for kids not to use any type of screen. Unfortunately, you do need to charge the Smart Brick. You charge by putting the smart brick on a wireless pad where two bricks can charge at once. These usually last up to 2 hours, depending on how long you play with them. If it’s completely dead, it would take up to 2 hours to recharge.
Mrs. Cross, an engineering teacher, shared her opinion about Lego’ new invention. She said, “I actually brought up the LEGO Smart Bricks a couple of times in my classes since we use Lego for projects. I find it very interesting that they are just trying to incorporate more tech into the Lego building experience. I don’t necessarily feel like the Lego Smart Bricks do anything revolutionary, but they definitely make the Lego experience more multi-sensory. I’m also glad that they didn’t introduce a screen into them. Kids these days have enough screens in front of them that I’m happy Lego kept the brick design the same and just added small tech features.”
Whether you decide to use the new Smart Bricks or not, it is clear that even the most classic toys can still get a high tech twist!
