New Lego Smart Brick uses technology comparable to that in an F-16 fighter jet helmet

Lego is gearing up to launch its new Smart Brick, which the toymaker says has tech so impressive it’s comparable to what you might find inside an F-16 fighter jet helmet. 

Lego has been around for more than 70 years and has been played with by millions of children (and adults) across the globe. 

Although Lego introduces new kits all the time, like this DeLorean one, or this Chevy Corvette Stingray, the colorful blocks have largely remained the same for seven decades. 

However, now the toymaker is set to introduce its ‘most revolutionary innovation’ in almost 50 years. 

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The Lego Smart Brick is an impressive bit of tech

Most of us grew up playing with the low-tech Lego blocks, spending hours building castles and cars from kits or dreaming up our own designs. 

But younger generations are set to experience Lego in a whole new way thanks to its new Smart Play system. 

Unveiled at this year’s CES, Smart Play will see Lego introduce new electrical components to its plastic blocks. 

The bricks measure 2×4 studs and look more or less like a standard block, but inside there’s a custom-made mixed-signal 4.1mm ASIC chip that offers some impressive advances. 

The Smart Brick has sensors that can identity motion, distance and position and can respond when being played with. 

So, for example, a Lego helicopter fitted with an additional Smart Brick can make a ‘whooshing’ sound when it’s being moved or rotated, or can start flashing red when it crashes.

Speaking to Wired, Lego’s technical director Andrew Knights said the Smart Brick’s 3D positioning system, known as Neighbor Position Measurement (NPM), is accurate down to the millimeter and is the team’s proudest achievement.

“The nearest thing we saw close to this was in the F-16 fighter jet, which in the helmet has something inside to know where you’re looking relative to the seat,” Knights said.

The bricks charge wirelessly, which will surely bring a sigh of relief to parents who won’t have to try and hook a bunch of tiny blocks to USB cables.

They can also charge at height, so a completed model can easily be re-charged without having to dismantle it.

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The new technology is being introduced into three new kits, and they’re coming soon

The new Smart Play system also includes Smart Minifigures and Smart Tags tiles, which will all be able to wirelessly communicate with each other. 

Smart Play will launch with three Star Wars-themed sets: uke’s X-Wing, Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter, and the Emperor’s Throne Room Duel. 

The sets are available to pre-order now, with shipping set to kick off in March. 

Since announcing the first three Smart Play sets, Lego has confirmed there are another five Star Wars-themed kits on the way, including Yoda’s Hut, and the Millennium Falcon. 

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