To my shock, the corporate confirmed off yet another function I didn’t see throughout my first demo, maybe essentially the most spectacular one ought to these bricks make their way to adult builders: exact distance measurement.
Lego Group design supervisor Maarten Simons whipped out a “Lego ruler” made of normal Lego bricks divided into segments that have been every 10 Lego studs, or roughly 8cm (3.15 inches) lengthy. He hooked up a Good Brick to 1 finish of the ruler, and dragged a second Good Brick alongside its size. The Good Bricks modified coloration each time one other 10 ten studs was handed, precisely on the dividing traces of every phase.
Simons then moved the Good Bricks away from the ruler and carried out the identical trick. Utilizing only a pair of Good Bricks, he was in a position to measure the space between two factors in 2D and 3D area. Simons says the bricks can precisely observe one another’s place at distances of as much as roughly 4 to five meters (12–16 toes) away.
Then, Simons rotated a brick in midair, and we watched it gentle up as quickly because it was exactly going through the opposite brick.
From earlier briefings, I already knew the bricks might inform their very own orientation and in the event that they have been comparatively nearer or farther from one another. Nevertheless it’s clearly extra highly effective than that, with extra potential than the primary three Lego Star Wars units will provide on launch day (assuming these precision options work in the actual world with all its types of wi-fi interference).
The Lego Star Wars units very deliberately let children blast one another’s ships with out them actually going through one another, as a result of the corporate’s analysis exhibits children favor that. Nevertheless it clearly doesn’t must be that means. Low-hanging fruit: future Lego creations might have a exact blasting sport.
They could have potential in Lego robots too. Lego Mindstorms was one of many toymaker’s most subtle constructing units, however even with drag-and-drop programming capabilities, its complexity restricted its enchantment to children. With the Good Brick’s capability to know its location and orientation round different Good Bricks, Lego robots might presumably navigate obstacles constructed with Good Tags, or autonomously discover their means again to base stations with out the necessity for detailed programming, cameras for sensing, or pricier parts just like the Mindstorms’ Clever Brick.
Lego’s being extraordinarily quiet about future plans for its new Good Play system, nevertheless it’s getting increasingly fascinating, with extra potential makes use of, as the corporate reveals what the bricks are able to.
