CES 2026: LEGO brings bricks to life with Smart Play tech
Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at 9:36PM The LEGO Group debuted its newest interactive innovation, LEGO SMART Play, at CES 2026, which allows physical builds to respond to play in real-time. The system is anchored by the LEGO SMART Brick, a standard brick packed with advanced sensors, accelerometers, and a miniature speaker powered by an onboard synthesizer. This "invisible" technology enables builds to "play back" by reacting to movement and touch with context-specific sounds and light effects—all without the need for a screen or smartphone app.
The platform also introduces SMART Tags and SMART Minifigures, which contain unique digital IDs that the SMART Brick recognizes via magnetic coupling. When a character like Luke Skywalker is placed near a SMART-enabled starship, the system can trigger iconic sound effects, such as lightsaber hums or engine roars.