Andrew Kesterson

"Love God. Live Righteously. Die Well."
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# Smart LEGO

2026-01-11 Technology 279 words

A Slashdot user reports that

> The Lego Group today unveiled Smart Bricks, a tiny computer that fits entirely inside a classic 2x4 brick and which the company is calling the most significant evolution in its building system since the introduction of the minifigure in 1978. The Smart Brick contains a custom ASIC smaller than a single Lego stud and includes light and sound output, light sensors, inertial sensors for detecting movement and tilt, and a microphone that functions as a virtual button rather than a recording device. The bricks detect NFC-equipped smart tags embedded in new tiles and minifigures, and they form a Bluetooth mesh network to sense each other’s position and orientation. They charge wirelessly on a pad that can handle multiple bricks simultaneously.

So we have physical artifacts the size of a lego brick that can:

- detect movement and tilt
- sense light
- output light and sound
- a microphone that acts like a button

I’m really curious to get my hands on some of these and see what you can do with them. I could easily see them being constructed into physical artifacts that serve as some kind of interactive amusement device - at the very least, you would be able to make a Simon Says or BopIt. I’m also curious how (if at all) they could interact with Mindstorms. I’m sure someone out there will figure out a way to make them interact with smoething they weren’t meant to.

On a long enough timeline, we’ll have an entire computer constructed entirely of LEGO Smart Bricks that runs DOOM, like a real life minecraft Redstone contraption.

What a time to be alive.

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