We remember Sphere’s hard-hat-tour days, when we imagined the far-out images that would be beyond the venue’s capabilities. “They should try to put the Death Star on this thing,” was one comment, conveyed in jest, as we believed it could never happen.
Or so we thought.
Sphere appeared as the planet-sized space station on Wednesday night, as part of the premiere of Lego Smart Play during the Consumer Electronics Show.
The new game-play innovation is powered by the new Lego Smart Brick, the heart and brain of the Smart Play system. The technology impressively enlivens the famous building sets. The innovation was introduced with a pop-up attraction showcasing a to-scale X-Wing fighter (its cockpit built with Lego bricks) facing Sphere on the southeast side of the Bulbous Wonder.
One-by-one, guests, including yours truly, climbed into the replica jet to take down the Death Star. Luke Skwalker’s iconic trench run played out gloriously on the venue’s Exosphere. And we blew it up, real good, our hard hat from a three years ago replaced by a (replica) flight helmet.
The first-of-its-kind activation was produced specifically for CES, in a partnership with Lego Group, Sphere Studios, Star Wars, Disney Consumer Products and Lucasfilm.
“This is an amazing example of our innovation with Lego, which is obviously an iconic, very playful, multigenerational brand,” Sphere Senior Vice President of Innovations Marcus Ellington says. “They’ve chosen CES as their playground, and reached out to the middle of last year to say they couldn’t think of a better canvas to bring this product and story to life.”
Lego Smart Play debuts March 1. The brick is packed with tiny sensors and synthesizers to give off “Star Wars”-style sound effects. Click the brick into hand-crafted “Star Wars” figures to create a new way of enjoying the classic model toys. Swing an X-Wing or TIE Fighter, and the brick will respond as if choreographed, with whirrs, rumbles, pops and growls.
For those who grew up building Lego houses with little doors and windows as the heightened experience, this is very far out. But the experience still spans generations.
“If you have a Lego brick today, it still clicks with a brick that might have been out there 50, 70 years ago,” says Lego Star Wars Head of Product Mike Ilacqua. “This is the next evolution of technology that is very seamless for kids.”
That is true for adults, too, especially if you have Sphere in the backyard.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.