LEGO Debuts Interactive SMART Play Gateway at San Diego Comic-Con

The booth, located at #2829, serves as an interworld terminal where visitors enter immersive environments powered by the SMART Brick—a 2x4 component capable of reading tags, synthesizing light and sound, and tracking precise physical movement. Within the Pokémon Lab, attendees can select partner creatures and trigger interactive sequences, while the Mos Eisley Cantina setup allows fans to remix music and trigger character encounters through the LEGO Star Wars SMART Play system.

Beyond the interactive gateway, the company is using the convention to showcase upcoming product launches. Highlights include the 1,701-piece LEGO Icons Star Trek: U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Bridge set, arriving September 1, and the LEGO Donkey Kong Arcade cabinet, which features a functional barrel-tossing mechanism. The brand also revealed a new series of LEGO Minifigures: Shrek, celebrating the franchise's 25th anniversary ahead of the upcoming film sequel.

Beth McKenna, Head of U.S. Marketing at the LEGO Group, described the technology as the most significant advancement since the introduction of the Minifigure. The booth will remain open through July 26, featuring daily scavenger hunts and panel discussions, including a retrospective on the 15-year history of LEGO NINJAGO.