What do you get when you cross Lego with IoT? Brixo, of course

16 May 2016

Brixo seems fun for all but the most angry neighbour, image via YouTube

Two separate, concurrent and wildly successful crowdfunding campaigns for a cool little Lego-themed makers kit has seen Brixo raise almost $1.5m. You can build a lot of bridges with that kind of money.

Armed with a really interesting product, and a quite fantastic promo video, the Israeli makers of Brixo (the next step of Lego, perhaps) have landed a wonderful project.

Raising $725,845 this month on Indiegogo – 1434pc of its target – and $716,791 on Kickstarter around the same time – 1433pc of its target – is an incredible feat.

Essentially, electronically-connected Lego blocks, where you create circuits, sound-powered lights or moving structures, Boaz and Amir call Brixo Lego on steroids.

“If steroids also gave you superpowers and taught you new languages.”

Conducting electricity through a combination of basic blocks, action blocks, trigger blocks , LED lighting and motors, kids can build structures that come to life.

The connector blocks, although looking the same, are actually chrome to help the current flow, with sound, light, Bluetooth and even proximity acting as the trigger to get the action going.

Everything is housed within the blocks, with batteries powering it all. It seems a wonderful little toy for kids to get into engineering  or circuits. And it’s backed beyond belief.

There’s nothing other to say other than watch the video. It’s a good one.

Of course, Danish company Lego isn’t just about stagnant blocks, with engineering incorporated too. At the start of the year, Lego Education released its second version of its STEM robotics kit, WeDo 2.0, with the aim of it becoming part of a school’s curriculum.

Lego Education, whose MD Dr René Lydiksen previously spoke to Siliconrepublic.com, is Lego’s division that aims to use its products to promote STEM education among kids, with the WeDo 2.0 its flagship product.

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com