Photos: Lego’s new bricks react to movement and sounds without using screens

At CES 2026, Lego introduced Smart Play, a new system that integrates light, sound, and motion responses into traditional Lego bricks without using screens, preserving the classic hands-on building experience. Central to Smart Play is a standard-looking 2×4 brick embedded with advanced electronics, including a patented ASIC chip, accelerometer, LED array, speaker, and motion sensors. The system also features Smart Tag tiles with unique digital IDs and Smart Minifigures, enabling physical models to react dynamically to movement and proximity, such as a helicopter brick lighting up and playing propeller sounds that vary with motion. Smart Play includes BrickNet, a Bluetooth-based protocol allowing multiple Smart Bricks to communicate and coordinate effects across larger builds, with enhanced encryption and privacy controls. The system requires no setup or pairing, runs on rechargeable internal batteries charged wirelessly, and supports firmware updates via a phone app for ongoing feature additions. The first Smart Play sets, themed around Star Wars, will launch on March 1,