Utilizing Sensible Brick know-how to get children to play collectively

Lego’s Smart Play system introduced at CES 2026 earlier this week is a brand new embrace of digital know-how that we haven’t seen from the corporate earlier than. Whereas the demo Lego gave at its press convention on Monday was begin to displaying what Sensible Bricks are able to, it actually isn’t an alternative to seeing it in individual. I used to be capable of get an prolonged demo that answered a lot of my questions on how the system will work as soon as Lego followers of all ages get their palms on the primary Sensible Play units.

As I detailed yesterday, the Sensible Play system comprises three components. The Sensible Brick is full of know-how like proximity sensors, an accelerometer, shade sensors and a speaker, all powered by a tiny chip. It’s essential to know that every Sensible Brick is equivalent at this level; to essentially convey a set to life, it’s worthwhile to mix it with Sensible Tags or Sensible Minifigures. Each the Tags and Minifigures comprise particular directions that assist the Brick perceive the context that it’s positioned in.

The demo began out merely, with three small Lego builds: a automobile, a helicopter and a duck. Every of these builds had a singular Sensible Tag that the Sensible Brick makes use of to know the way it ought to reply to real-world stimulus. The automobile began making the sound of a revving engine, and when enjoying with it to drive it sooner and extra aggressively, the engine made extra noise. Tilting the automobile would trigger it to make some screeching sounds as if it was taking corners exhausting, and flipping it over would make the sound of a automobile wreck.

The Sensible Brick can equally sense what particular Sensible Minifigures is close to it and reply accordingly. Because the first three Sensible Play units are all primarily based on Star Wars, it’s slightly simpler to elucidate how they work together with the Sensible Brick. Take the Throne Room Duel & A-Wing set — it consists of Sensible Minifigs for Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and Emperor Palpatine, and there are additionally Sensible Tags that correspond to varied actions the characters can take. For those who place a Sensible Brick behind Palpatine’s throne, the basic “Imperial March” theme will ring out and Palpatine himself will chatter a bit. The Minifigures don’t truly say actual phrases, however they will nonetheless embody their characters effectively sufficient. Vader, for instance, presents his basic respiration sound and exclaim if he’s defeated in a light-weight saber duel.

That duel is a intelligent a part of this set. There are moveable mounts you’ll be able to place Luke and Vader on, together with a Sensible Brick. To finish the battle scene, a Sensible Tag tells the brick to tackle the traits crucial for a light-weight saber battle. As such, while you place the Minifigures within the mount, you’ll hear the basic sound of a light-weight saber buzzing to life. And for those who transfer the characters round and crash them collectively, you’ll hear the sounds of battle. Lastly, knocking a Minifigure off its spot will inform the brick related to that character to make their trademark sound of defeat — in Vader’s case, that’s the long-lasting “noooooooo.”

The opposite two new Sensible Play units are Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter and Luke’s Purple 5 X-Wing — a great pair for some space-based dogfighting. The X-Wing reveals off how good the Sensible Brick is at dealing with a number of inputs. Including it to the X-Wing will make sounds of the ship buzzing to life, due to the X-Wing-specific Sensible Tile. Sit Luke within the cockpit and also you’ll hear the Jedi theme music play, and seating R2-D2 within the again will make the Droid chatter at you in its acquainted tones.

Pitting the 2 ships in opposition to one another reveals off extra of the Sensible Brick’s capabilities. Grabbing the ships and whooshing them by the air will make the Sensible Brick play sounds that aren’t simply generic engine noises — you’ll be able to positively hear the distinction between the X-Wing and the TIE fighter. Every ship additionally has lasers you’ll be able to activate, and if two children are in the identical room flying ships round and firing off lasers, you’ll hear the ships taking “harm” as effectively. Firing sufficient pictures whereas aiming at one other ship will ultimately trigger it to play some exploding sounds to point that it has gone up in flames — the Minifigures related to the ship will even make sounds of dismay, as effectively.

At first look, the units themselves don’t really feel wildly totally different than different smaller-scale Star Wars units, however the individuals from the Lego Group giving the demo identified just a few notable traits. The TIE fighter and X-Wing are each particularly designed to resist extra abuse from energetic play situations than the common Lego set, they usually’re additionally particularly designed to suit will in a child’s hand to allow them to run round and propel them by the air. The Throne Room set, in the meantime, has a removable space the place Luke and Vader can battle — you’ll be able to take away and re-attach it to the throne space simply sufficient, nevertheless it’s good to separate it out for extra aggressive mild saber battles.

All advised, I’m fairly excited to see the place Lego goes with its Sensible Play system from right here. Beginning out with some easier units from an enormous franchise like Star Wars is a logical solution to introduce the system. There are apparent play situations that make excellent sense as a solution to showcase the Sensible Brick. However I’m wanting ahead to a time when Lego begins promoting tiles and Minifigures that may increase the capabilities of present units, whether or not they’re licensed or not. And the thought of smushing collectively Star Wars with among the many different properties that Lego has entry to (Jurassic World? DC or Marvel? Despicable Me or Bluey?) looks like simply the form of chaotic enjoyable children will love having.

That’s maybe crucial level about Sensible Play. Whereas Lego has made main overtures for capturing the hearts and wallets of grownup Lego followers, Sensible Play may be very clearly geared toward children proper now. There aren’t any screens, apps or setup wanted for Sensible Play — it appears exceedingly straightforward to simply choose up and begin enjoying. Moreover, Lego is utilizing this know-how to make Lego units extra interactive, one thing the corporate hopes will encourage extra social play amongst children. That’s a strong use of the know-how packed right into a Sensible Brick for those who ask me.