CES 2026 Las Vegas & LEGO’s Smart Brick
A Star Wars-themed Lego activation at CES turned Sphere’s Exosphere into an interactive gaming experience.
© Brian Friedman/B-Freed Photography_Sphere Entertainment
(eap) Since Tuesday – and continuing through this evening – CES 2026 has been taking place in Las Vegas. Once again, the US consumer electronics trade show serves as a stage for product premieres and technological innovations that aim to set new benchmarks. Numerous companies from around the world, including European manufacturers, are showcasing their latest developments. The spectrum ranges from smart LEGO bricks and AI-controlled refrigerators to foldable smartphones and humanoid robots.
Among others, German company Siemens demonstrated how customers and partners can use artificial intelligence in the future to modernize their business models. To this end, the company expanded its AI partnership with US chip manufacturer NVIDIA. Together, the partners are working on a so-called “Industrial AI Operating System”, which is intended to cover all stages of industrial value creation – from design and simulation to manufacturing, operations, and supply chains.
Toy manufacturer LEGO® presented a new interactive building brick in Las Vegas. Equipped with high-tech sensors, the “SMART Brick” reacts to movement and detects other bricks in its surroundings. The 2x4 LEGO brick can connect with so-called “SMART Tags” and interact with LEGO minifigures. In addition, the brick generates sounds and features lighting elements, a color-recognition scanner, and an integrated accelerometer. For the market launch of the “LEGO® SMART Play™” system, which will be available from March, the Danish company partnered with Disney Consumer Products and Lucasfilm. As part of a marketing campaign, LEGO used the outer LED shell of the Sphere on the Las Vegas Strip to present an interactive “LEGO® Star Wars” gaming experience. During the production developed by Sphere Studios, invited guests were able to climb into the cockpit of a nearly life-size LEGO model and recreate a Star Wars film scene in LEGO style using a joystick and screen. The sequence was simultaneously displayed on the Sphere’s approximately 54,000-square-meter 360-degree LED screen.
Those wishing to learn more about current developments in LED technology and its application in amusement parks should not miss the cover story in the latest EAP issue 1/2026. ■
