Mark your calendars for March 1st, 2026, as The Lego Group is poised to unveil its most innovative creation yet: a miniature computer ingeniously embedded within a traditional 2×4 Lego brick. This tiny marvel promises to revolutionize playtime by interacting with NFC-enabled smart tags embedded in fresh Lego tiles and minifigures, as well as other Smart Bricks. Imagine Lego sets springing to life, with features like humming lightsabers, roaring engines, and iconic soundtracks from the beloved Lego Star Wars universe.

Unveiled at CES 2026, these “Smart Bricks” and the “Smart Play” initiative mark a significant departure from previous creations like the bulky Lego Mario toys. Those required two AAA batteries and relied on color and barcode detection via bottom-mounted cameras. In contrast, these new bricks boast wireless charging capabilities, using a pad that can energize multiple bricks simultaneously. The battery is designed for longevity, remaining functional even after years of dormancy.

Equipped with light and sound capabilities, as well as sensors for detecting movement, tilt, and gestures, these bricks form a Bluetooth mesh network, allowing them to recognize each other’s positions and orientations. This means Lego Star Wars battles can come alive, with ships and figures reacting dynamically, or the iconic The Imperial March playing when Emperor Palpatine takes his throne. In Lego cars, these bricks can determine which vehicle crosses the finish line first or switch sound effects from engine roars to crash sounds if overturned. The brains behind this operation is a custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), smaller than a single Lego stud, with firmware that can be updated through a smartphone app.

Adding to the interactive experience is a built-in microphone, which Lego Group spokesperson Jessica Benson clarifies acts as a virtual button rather than a recording device. “You can blow on it, for example, to trigger actions like blowing out candles on a birthday cake,” she explains. “It’s designed to respond to sound inputs, enhancing the play experience without capturing or storing any audio data.”

Notably, these Smart Bricks contain no AI and omit a camera, which means they aren’t compatible with Lego Mario tiles that rely on barcode scanning. However, this decision underscores a focus on privacy and simplicity.

Set to debut on March 1st, the initial wave of Smart Bricks will center around the ever-popular Lego Star Wars sets, promising a new dimension of interactive play for fans young and old.

At roughly 4 x 4 x 5.5 inches (10 x 11 x 15cm) for the TIE Fighter and 2 x 8.5 x 7.5 (6 x 22 x 19cm) for the X-Wing including little outpost buildings, these are a good bit smaller than the “normal minifig scale” Lego Star Wars ships we’ve gotten in the past — the Smart Bricks add to the cost, as you’d expect.

If all you’re getting for that money is replacing the imaginative laser and humming sounds kids can already make with their own mouths, that’d be one thing — but there’s enough tech in here that they could possibly be much more. Lego spokesperson Jack Rankin suggests the tags can lead to more creative forms of mix-and-match play, too — when kids tried an early smart tag that quacked like a duck and combined that with a helicopter set, they enjoyed having a duck helicopter, too.

It’s highly unlikely they’ll stop at a few Lego Star Wars sets. The Lego Group is calling the new computer bricks “the most significant evolution in the Lego System-in-Play since the introduction of the Lego Minifigure in 1978,” and there are unconfirmed rumors that the upcoming Lego Pokémon sets will be the next to get them. The company already quietly piloted them in 2024 in a Lego City set, too.

“Lego Smart Play will continue to expand through new updates, launches and technology,” the company writes.

It’s definitely not the computer brick I asked Lego to make — but I’m very much looking forward to trying them this week at CES.