LEGO’s new Smart Brick brings lights and sound into the building experience
The toy company aims to enhance physical play without relying on screens or an app.
In a move that no one saw coming, LEGO unveiled its new Smart Brick system at CES 2026. The system is essentially an interactive platform that adds light, sound and sensors directly into what still looks – at first glance anyway – like a regular LEGO brick.
Enhancing physical play with new LEGO technology
The Smart Brick itself is a familiar 2x4 brick, but housed inside is a small computer complete with motion sensing, LEDs and a speaker. Paired with Smart Tags and compatible minifigures, the brick reacts to how it’s moved, tilted or placed near other elements, triggering context-aware lighting and audio. Crucially, there’s no screen involved here, and no companion app is required. Everything happens in the physical space.
What LEGO seems keen to avoid is turning building into a gadget exercise. The Smart Brick is designed to slot into the existing LEGO system rather than replace it, so traditional builds can be augmented with interactive moments instead of being redesigned from scratch. Pick up a ship, rotate it, or move a figure closer, and the set responds accordingly.
Dave Filoni, Chief Creative Office at Lucasfilm, was on the stage to show off the new Star Wars sets that support Smart Brick.
The first Smart Brick sets will be Star Wars-themed, including an X-Wing and a TIE Fighter, as well as a Millennium Falcon play set. These are planned for a March 2026 release and pre-orders begin this month in the US.
To see how Smart Brick actually works, click here.