--- title: "These Lego-like “Brixels” Could Make Your Walls Into Robots" description: "Brixels are smart bricks with built-in actuators that let them transform on the fly, giving designers a new tool with which to create adaptable spaces." date: "2018-10-23" modified: "2018-10-23" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/lego-like-brixels-walls-robots" categories: - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "architecture" - "brixels" - "building materials" - "the digest" --- # These Lego-like “Brixels” Could Make Your Walls Into Robots ![Default Futurism featured image]() ## Meet the Brixel The term "[smart home]()" probably makes you think of a more-or-less traditional house that features a few smart lights and connected appliances. Design studio Breakfast threw out that playbook with an [extraordinary new demo]() of a technology it calls "Brixels" — a portmanteau for "bricks" and "pixels." They're smart blocks, kind of like giant Legos, with built-in actuators that let them transform on the fly, giving designers a new tool with which to create adaptable public and living spaces. ## Bling Blocks In a series of photos and videos, Breakfast showcased Brixels with wooden, colored, and mirrored finishes. One video — check it out below — shows how we could use double-sided Brixels to create a wall that can transform from a solid color into a brilliant mirror. Of course, you'll never know how you feel about anything in interior design until it's 10 years old and clogged with dust and grit. But if these Brixels prove that they have longevity, they could be an exciting new resource for architects and designers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-5cVpWhp30 **READ MORE:** [Say Hello to ‘Brixel’, 2018’s Answer to the Brick]() \[*Curbed*\] ***More on smart homes: [A New “Mega-Sensor” Could Make Your Entire Home Smart]()*** ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()