"In front of me, on a plain white table, is a batch of prototypes of Lego's new Smart Brick, the final version of which is a small, sensor-laden 2-by-4 black brick with a big brain. No outsider has seen these prototypes, all of which represent stages of a journey Lego has been charting over the past eight years. Lego hopes this innovation, which lands in stores March 1, will safeguard the future of its plastic empire."
"The diminutive proportions of the finished Smart Brick belie the fact that the thing is exceedingly clever. Inside is a tiny custom chip running bespoke software that can communicate with onboard sensors to monitor and react to motion, orientation, and magnetic fields. It's also likely no exaggeration that the Smart Brick could represent the most radical product Lego has produced since Jens Nygaard Knudsen, the company's former longtime chief designer, created the minifigure nearly 50 years ago."
The Creative Play Lab in Billund, with 237 staff across Billund, London, Boston, and Singapore, developed a sensor-laden Smart Brick over eight years. The finished Smart Brick is a small 2-by-4 black brick containing a custom chip and bespoke software that communicates with onboard sensors to monitor and react to motion, orientation, and magnetic fields. The project, led by Tom Donaldson with assistance from Cambridge Consultants, underwent iterative improvements and numerous prototypes. Early prototypes exposed circuit boards and glued bricks. The Smart Brick launches March 1 integrated into new Star Wars sets and aims to modernize interactive play.
Read at WIRED
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]