Lego unveils tech-filled Smart Bricks

Lego has unveiled Smart Bricks, high-tech versions of its small building blocks that it says will bring sets to life with sound, light and motion responses.

But the new product line has drawn mixed reactions from play experts who say it risks undermining what makes Lego special for children in an increasingly digital world.

Announced at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the Danish toymaker's Smart Play system features new electronic components instead of the classic plastic bricks.

Lego says its new technology products, which will be released in March with a new Star Wars set, are the “most revolutionary innovation” in nearly 50 years.

But Josh Golin, chief executive of child welfare group Fairplay, believes Smart Bricks can “Undermining what was once great about LEGO” – using children’s own imagination during play.

He said the toy does not require additional functions to generate sounds or other effects.

“Anyone who has ever seen a child play with old-school Lego will know that children's Lego creations already move and make sounds thanks to the power of children's imagination,” he told the BBC. “

Andrew Manches, professor of children and technology at the University of Edinburgh, agreed that the beauty of Lego is “the freedom to create, recreate and adapt simple blocks into endless stories based on children's imaginations.”

But he also applauded Lego's efforts to integrate physical and digital play with tools that respond to how children interact with Smart Play products.

Julia Goldin, the company's director of product and marketing, previously told the BBC that she sees digital technology as an opportunity to “expand physical play and physical building.”

“We don’t see the digital world as a threat,” she said, adding that her smart line “seamlessly” combines interactivity with her physical products.

Lego says its smart bricks can detect movement, position and distance, allowing models to react differently during play.

The 2×4 brick contains sensors, light sources, a small audio synthesizer, an accelerometer, and a custom silicon chip that allows it to detect and respond to motion.

But it is designed to be used with Smart Minifigures and Smart Tags tiles, two additional products that make up Lego's Smart Play system.

Similarly adapted from existing Lego components, they feature digital identifiers that cause different sounds or reactions when detected and interact with each other.

For example, during a BBC test at CES, a Lego birthday cake recognized when its “candles” were blown out and played cheers and a happy birthday song.

Meanwhile, the Lego helicopter made whistling sounds when moving or spinning, and its Smart Brick glowed red when falling.

Tom Donaldson, head of Lego's Creative Play Lab, said the technology is designed to respond to children's actions and complement their natural play.

He said the Smart Brick's response to the answers “hopefully inspires and surprises the user, making them want to keep playing.”

“We're building a platform that will last for years to come,” he said.

Professor Manches told the BBC that the reduction in cost and size of components had “allowed more toy manufacturers to seamlessly integrate digital technology into their toy range”.

But he added that despite the impressive innovations, concerns remain about the security and privacy of new and emerging smart toys for children, especially those that integrate artificial intelligence.

“The main thing for all of us is to continue to think critically about the design of these toys and pay a lot of attention to how they impact children's daily lives,” he said.

This isn't the first time Lego has experimented with digital technology or tried to appeal to its growing online audience.

Since 2017, the company has been releasing augmented reality apps and experiences that allow people to play with computer models overlaid on their environment.

Through collaborations with video game publishers such as Nintendo and Fortnite maker Epic Games, the company also sought to attract fans of popular or new games by releasing a tiny-screen Super Mario minifigure in 2020.

Lego CEO Niels B. Christiansen said in the company's 2024 annual report that the company has increased spending on digital technology as a “strategic area” for the company.