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Apple Now Selling LEGO 'Hidden Side' Augmented Reality Building Kits

Thursday August 1, 2019 11:24 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is now selling LEGO's "Hidden Side" LEGO kits that are designed to offer a mixed physical and augmented reality experience.

Hidden Side is a new series of LEGO sets that are based on a "chilling, creative world of ghosts," providing kids with a building toy that comes to life thanks to augmented reality on a smartphone.


Kids can build up the sets and then view the sets on an iOS device for interactive augmented reality gameplay that varies based on the set. With the Wrecked Shrimp Boat set, for example, kids explore a sunken boat that has "strange, surreal secrets," and then engage in a boss fight.


All of the sets have unique interactions, with mysteries to solve, items to find, games to play, ghosts to collect, and a ghost boss battle. Apple is selling four of the LEGO Hidden Side sets:
Like traditional LEGO sets, all of these kits come with mini figures, animals, and other accessories that fit the theme along with all of the building materials to create the intended design.


All of the sets are available from the Apple online store as of today, and may soon be available in Apple retail stores as well.

Tag: LEGO
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Naraxus
3 weeks ago
Yeah no. My kids are going to play in actual reality and not this "virtue" or "augmented" nonsense.
Rating: 11 Votes
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DrJohnnyN
3 weeks ago
Everything is awesome!
Rating: 8 Votes
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zifty
3 weeks ago
As if kids need more screen time. Legos encourage creative, physical play without the need for a screen or app -- and that's what makes them still awesome today. Hard pass on this AR combo.
Rating: 6 Votes
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Doctor Q
3 weeks ago
Who says they're for kids? I want to play with this!
Rating: 3 Votes
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mrothroc
3 weeks ago

*Cellphones weren't prolific. Those big Motorola bricks were the only game in town, and only for rich people.


When I was a kid, a "mobile phone" was one that had an extra long cord.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Veinticinco
3 weeks ago
Picked up a couple of the smaller sets for my Lego-loving son earlier this week and he’s having a blast playing with the physical sets and app. The theme itself is lots of fun in the same vein as Scooby Doo, Monster Fighters and Ghostbusters.

It’s a great concept. Not quite sure why Apple are selling the sets (in the US at least, no sign online in Europe) but whatever. Still, Apple could learn a lot about innovation from TLG.
Rating: 2 Votes
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chfilm
3 weeks ago
This could be pretty awesome actually! Can you imagine an entire “movie” as in story playing out around a lego set that you have to build? I mean, the figures coming to life and start walking around, and then they’re really going on a quest around your living room for 15 minutes or so?
Rating: 2 Votes
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iPhysicist
3 weeks ago

Technic was awesome. I had a sort of "generic" kit that allowed me to build several pieces of construction equipment at the same time. The only downside IMO is the hoses. Once you've cut them for your application, you really couldn't use it elsewhere.

Yeah it had some downsides but I was blown away seeing this precious toy under the tree. Maybe I was still a little too young to appreciate it completely but it was a fun toy. Sadly the truck is not in working condition anymore. I don’t know the current technic but the old ones already where awesome .
Rating: 1 Votes
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mcfrazieriv
3 weeks ago
Doesn't this defeat the entire point of the toy? I mean, you can build in Minecrack and watch your crap come alive. LEGO was all about a kid's imagination. Do children not make the Jurassic Park TRex sound anymore when they hold toy dinosaurs or explosion sounds when they fire the cannons on toy ships? Is that all replaced by a kid literally building something and then looking through a 1000$ iPhone?
Rating: 1 Votes
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repoman016
3 weeks ago

As if kids need more screen time. Legos encourage creative, physical play without the need for a screen or app -- and that's what makes them still awesome today. Hard pass on this AR combo.

I am on the fence here. I agree with you 100% but I also feel like lego is just trying to keep up with the times. Hard to fault them for wanting to do something like this. It is a neat concept, but I feel like it kills the creativity of the child by doing all the imagining for them through a phone.
Rating: 1 Votes

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