LEGO announced a "smart" brick that brings sets to life (2 photos + 2 videos)
LEGO unveiled the Smart Brick, a smart brick with a chip, sensors, and a speaker inside. These bricks can light up, make sounds, and respond to tilts and flips. They also interact with other figures and sets. 
At CES 2026, LEGO unveiled what the company calls its biggest innovation since the minifigures of 1978. The SMART Play system is a three-product ecosystem that allows bricks to respond to user actions without screens, apps, or the internet.
What's in the system?
The first element is the Smart Brick, a standard 2x4 brick with a ton of electronics hidden inside. It contains a custom 4.1mm ASIC chip (smaller than a single LEGO stud), a speaker, LEDs, an accelerometer, and copper coils. The latter are used for wireless charging and position detection of other system elements.
The second is the Smart Tag, a flat 2x2 tile with a digital ID. It tells the Smart Brick what it has "transformed" into—a spaceship, an animal, or something else. This determines the sounds the brick makes.
The third is the Smart Minifigure, a minifigure with the same built-in ID. The Smart Brick recognizes it and reacts accordingly.
All of this is connected via BrickNet, a Bluetooth-based local area network with a proprietary positioning system. The bricks understand their relative positions, their orientation, and whether they are moving, rotating, or flying across the room.
Sound is a different story. Instead of recorded audio files, a synthetic sound engine is used. The underlying sounds are transformed in real time, so the same source can sound like the roar of a fighter jet or... a toilet flush. This removes any limitations on the number of sounds a brick can produce.
Development took about ten years and 25 patents. They're launching a Star Wars system: three sets ranging from $70 to $160. Pre-orders open on January 9th, with sales starting March 1st.
