LEGO has flirted with electronics before, but its most stable promise was always something else: that the classic brick needed nothing to become anything. For decades, this principle maintained an almost intact refuge from the digitalization of children’s play, without screens or sensors, with imagination as the only driving force. That is why the step that the company has just taken is not minor. Introducing motion, light and sound detection into the brick itself strikes at the heart of the system.
The announcement occurred at CES 2026, in Las Vegas, where LEGO officially presented its new SMART Play System. The company explained that it is a platform that introduces new electronic components into its construction system so that the creations react with lights and sounds in response to movement and interaction. It was not presented as a prototype, but as a product with a launch date and with a platform vocation.
The system, by pieces. The SMART Play System is based on three elements that work together. The core is the so-called SMART Brick, a 2×4 brick that acts as a response center. Around it, the SMART Tags come into play, pieces that indicate to the brick what type of object or scenario it represents, and the SMART Minifigures, figures capable of activating different behaviors. LEGO insists that they are not independent accessories, but parts of the same system designed to fit with the rest of the traditional pieces.
Sensors, lights and sound. Unlike previous approaches based on recognizable modules, here the electronics live within the brick itself. The SMART Brick integrates motion detection using an accelerometer, lights capable of reacting to the environment and a sound system that is activated according to physical interaction. There are no external screens or controls – it’s all down to how you turn, pan or tap the build. In its official description, LEGO also talks about a color recognition scanner and a game engine that generates reactions with lights and sounds.
The CES demos show a birthday cake capable of recognizing when its candles go out and reacting with an audible celebration, as well as a helicopter that responds to movement with flight effects and changes behavior when turning or falling. In these cases, the interaction does not start from a button or a screen, but from a physical gesture.
Release date. The commercial deployment of the system already has a first date set. The premiere will arrive in the United States in March, with a set based on Star Wars as the spearhead. The choice does not seem accidental: starting with such a recognizable license allows you to immediately show the possibilities of the system and see how it fits into real use before taking new steps.
It’s not the first time. Although the SMART Play System introduces electronics to a place hitherto untouchable, LEGO has been exploring hybrid formulas for years. From robotics kits with sensors, like LEGO Mindstorms, to augmented reality experiences, the company has been testing how to combine physical construction and digital responses. The difference now is one of focus: the technology stops being a recognizable addition and becomes integrated into the language of the parts system itself.
What some experts say. The announcement has not been received with unanimous enthusiasm. Josh Golin, chief executive of the Fairplay group, warned the BBC that Smart Bricks “undermine what was once great about Legos” by shifting initiative away from the child and onto the sensors. Along the same lines, Professor Andrew Manches, from the University of Edinburgh, recalled that the historical value of the brand has been in “the freedom to create, recreate and adapt simple blocks to create infinite stories.”, and warned that technology can condition how it is played if it is not designed carefully.
Faced with these criticisms, LEGO defends that technology does not replace physical play, but rather expands it. Julia Goldin, head of product and marketing, explained to the British media that they do not see the digital world as a threat, but as an opportunity to “expand physical play and physical construction.”
An important nuance. The SMART Play System does not mean that all LEGO sets will incorporate electronics from now on. For now, the company has presented a concrete proposal, with a first launch without announcing an immediate expansion to the rest of its catalog. What path this technology will have and in what lines it will end up appearing is something that is not yet defined. For now, this is a limited deployment that will serve to test how far this approach fits within the traditional game system.
Images | LEGO
In WorldOfSoftware | What happened to Technicolor: evolution and death of the company that changed cinema and was overwhelmed by its ambition
