If you spotted a Lego Smart Brick on a table, you wouldn’t think anything of it. Well, apart from, “Who left a Lego brick on this table?” And perhaps, “At least it wasn’t on the floor, because treading on Lego hurts more than falling into a ball pit where the balls have inexplicably been replaced by furious chainsaw-wielding hedgehogs”. That’s because it looks like a standard black 2×4 Lego brick with a transparent 2×4 plate on top. However, shock twist – unless you’ve already read about it – the brick is actually a tiny computer. And a synth.
Both of these things are important, and the second especially. Because it transforms the brick from a limited, expensive gimmick into something that’s far more interesting and versatile. Alas, it’s also what has grumpy old people moaning about how terribly awful they think the Smart Brick is. Despite, you know, the Smart Brick being primarily designed for use by children rather than grumpy old people. (I say this as someone who owns far too much Lego and as a paid-up member of the Grumpy Old People Society.)
See the light
That said, I was initially deeply sceptical about the Lego Smart Brick. It seemed… unnecessary. Expensive. A modern take on Lego: Light & Sound, which quickly faded after its 1986 debut when kids grew tired of a tinny speaker and flashing bulbs. To me, that’s what the Smart Brick sounded like: a new iteration of brick that gave you a headache when it zapped you with its flashing lights and then a second headache by making all sorts of noises until you begged a friend to use it to bean the chief hedgehog in the ball pit and give you precious seconds to escape.
The reason I’m no longer sceptical about the Lego Smart Brick is simple: I’ve now seen one in the flesh. Or the plastic. Definitely one of those. Lego gave me a demo and something in my brain went twang as the possibilities of the Lego Smart Play system became clear.
The little brick, you see, interacts through a fancy mix of gyro, proximity and colour. Two brick-enabled Star Wars Lego craft can have a dogfight and they go PEW PEW PEW and make explosion noises when weapons line up. Or scenes can spring to life when you place the Smart Brick next to smart tiles or minifigs.
Built to last
All of which might lead you to point out that children have, for centuries, been perfectly able to make a lot of noise on their own. I can attest to this; there’s an 11-year-old in the house. And, sure, it’s possible kids will tire of a brick that needs a recharge (on a supplied charger) after about 45 minutes of play. Although that would be a very long dogfight. But what gave me hope about the Smart Brick is that, for once, Lego appears to have hit upon technology that has a reasonable shot at longevity.
First, there’s no screen. So the system is not reliant on an app. Secondly, all the fancy stuff happens by combining the Smart Brick and tiles. So interactivity isn’t reliant on a massive chunky dead-eyed Mario, say. And, thirdly, the synth means that the Lego Smart Brick can parp anything that chips inside of tiles and minifigs tell it to. That means, in years to come, Lego could release Ninjago, City or Star Trek sets compatible with the Smart Brick, without having to do anything more than make some new tiles.
Parp wars
Naturally, the synth bit is what got the aforementioned grumpy old people all grumpy. During the demo, I watched as Lego Darth Vader was plonked into a Lego TIE Fighter and the Lego Smart Brick emitted a passable rendition of The Imperial March that sounded like it might once have emanated from an 8-bit micro. Luke Skywalker got the same treatment with his X-Wing. Elsewhere, there was a valiant attempt to recreate Vader’s dodgy breathing, lightsaber clashes and more.
But none of it was fully authentic. These weren’t samples. They were synth sounds. Lego Vader didn’t suddenly yell at Luke “NO, I AM YOUR FATHER!” (er, spoiler alert, I guess) when the two minifigs met eye to eye. The closest thing I heard to speech was when minifigs burbled away like they were auditioning for Peanuts cartoons.
Personally, I’m all for the parps and burbles. They’re silly and fun, reinforcing the fact that Lego is a toy, not an absurdly expensive collectable masquerading as one. And from a tech standpoint, a brick that can be endlessly repurposed – echoing the ethos behind Lego itself – is far more appealing than a one-off piece of plastic crammed with samples and that’s intended for just one build.
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