Lego crams an ASIC in a brick to keep kids interested

Not even Legos are safe from the inexorable march of smart technology, as the Danish construction toy stalwart introduced a new tech-in-a-brick Smart Play system at CES this week.

Lego brick sets based around Smart Bricks will be packed with things like light and motion sensors, a speaker, lights, a wirelessly rechargeable battery and other components. According to Lego, that means builds that include a four-by-two Smart Brick are able to "react uniquely depending on how it's moved, twisted, and turned."

"You might hear our SMART Brick roaring like a jet plane or flushing like a toilet," Lego explained in a rundown of how the system could work.

There's a catch, though: Smart Bricks don't do a darn thing unless they're placed close to an accompanying Smart Minifigure or flat 2-by-2 sized Smart Tag, both of which appear, based on an image shared by Lego, to have some form of NFC chip in them.

The internal components of a Lego Smart Play Brick, Minifigure, and Tags - Click to enlarge

Lego explained that it chose to design its own internal hardware for the Smart Play system instead of relying on an existing design, resulting in a "bespoke, silicon ASIC chip" for Smart Play that is "smaller than just one standard Lego stud and highly specialized to the task."

As explained in Lego's blog posts, tags can do things like tell a Smart Brick that it's now part of an aircraft, boat, or other vehicle, or that it's attached to the back of a dinosaur or animal. They're also embedding the chips into Smart Minifigures, which are like the standard Lego people and characters, but programmed with their own personalities.

"Each Smart Minifigure reacts differently to the world around them," Lego explained, "through their own sounds, moods and reactions, which are played back to you via the SMART Brick."

Put a nervous minifigure on a spaceship, and they might freak out, Lego said.

"Every SMART Play Minifigure reacts uniquely to any given play scenario," the company added.

Of course, this being the modern era of Lego, a new product launch wouldn't be complete without licensing it out to a brand, and what Lego-licensed IP is more recognizable than Star Wars?

Sure, kids will eventually be able to build Smart Brick-enabled cars, airplanes, and dinosaurs. For now, however, they'll be exclusively able to play with Smart Legos in a galaxy far, far away.

Three Smart Play sets were announced at CES: Darth Vader's TIE Fighter, Luke Skywalker's X-Wing, and Emperor Palpatine's Throne Room, which also comes with an A-Wing. Smart tags in the trio of kits include the aforementioned craft, along with lightsaber duel sounds, an Imperial laser turret, transport ship, R2-D2, and the like. Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine, and Princess Leia Smart Minifigures all feature, too, naturally.

Luke's X-Wing in Lego Smart Bricks form - Click to enlarge

The sets will be available for preorder beginning January 9, and will start shipping in March.

Lego bricks with onboard custom ASICs seem like a builder's dream come true – especially with Lego's professed goal of encouraging open-ended play. Given that, it would seem natural for Lego to release some kind of development kit for the Smart Play system to enable advanced Lego lovers to design their own Smart Tags and Minifigures.

Alas, nothing like that has been announced so far.

For now, Lego is foregoing unlimited user creativity in favor of releasing Star Wars-branded sets – when I was a kid I had nothing but a bunch of random multi-colored bricks and the imagination to build my own starships, this aging Vulture screams while shaking his fist.

The only clue to the future of what DIY enthusiasts can expect from Lego Smart Play comes in the form of a cryptic statement at the end of a press release. "LEGO SMART Play™ will continue to expand through new updates, launches and technology – with the LEGO Group set to reveal more additions in the future." ®

RETRUI

RETRUI

Lego crams an ASIC in a brick to keep kids interested