Not only the Clubhouse: why the new LEGO set is called BrickTok
What is Vidiyo
The Danish company LEGO has gone all out: behind the strange name Vidiyo hides not just another series of construction sets, it is at the same time a music library, a social network and a game about managing your own group.
In Vidiyo, you create your own musical group and develop it by recording video clips and uploading them to a special social network. On the Internet, she was aptly named BrickTok – a kind of TikTok for cubes. Why isn’t LEGO offering to take advantage of existing social media? Because the experience must be safe for children: no comments, real names or data. In addition, all content in Vidiyo is moderated before publication.
Experiments with the game in augmented reality LEGO began a long time ago. In 2015, the Dimensions set was released, with which you can transfer little men from the construction set to the game world on the TV screen, and in 2019–2020, the Hidden Side and LEGO Super Mario series.
There is very little left of the designer. There will be two kinds of boxes on the shelves (at least in the first wave): Bandmates minifigures and BeatBoxes minifigures with “scene” scenes. Beatboxes can be purchased in different genres: pop, punk, hip-hop, K-pop, and so on, and bandmates will have to be bought blindly – you will find out exactly what you get only after opening the box. Both types of boxes will also include BeatBits. This is a new entity in the world of LEGO – plastic squares with colorful covers that connect the physical world of Vidiyo with the virtual one. In order for bandmates and beatboxes to stop being just plastic figures, you need to download an AR application.
So, you assemble a physical kit, run the application and scan the figurine on the table. Her virtual image appears on the screen and begins the thorny path of a superstar. With figures, you can record clips for which Universal Music Group has provided a large library of music. In particular, they are filmed under the tracks of Blackpink, Billy Eilish, The Weekend and MC Hammer. The same bitbeats in the clips are responsible for special effects and skills: by scanning various squares, you teach the figure new movements, dances, add lightning and unusual decorations to the video. This year, LEGO plans to release 130 different bitbeats – the more there are, the more diverse the clips will be.
The video is uploaded to the app where it collects likes from other members. It is assumed that the activity in the new social network will not be spontaneous: participants will be able to compete in various competitions and even receive real, physical prizes. And for a rich glamorous life, Vidiyo users will receive a special currency that can be used to buy virtual things and accessories for their stars. More clips means more currency and even more clips.
For whom they came up with a new AR-set
Do not think that Vidiyo is only child’s play. Local clips give in a good way crazy in the spirit of old school MTV: in one, a giant llama with maracas dances on the lawn near the house, in the other, ice cream dances with children. Of course, you can also stand in the frame and dance with virtual figures, for example, under Dorna
. So far, Ukrainian singer and blogger Katya Adushkina is the only Russian-speaking performer in Vidiyo, but the music library will expand.
LEGO sees Vidiyo not just as a social network for entertainment, but also as an educational service: “Music goes hand in hand with creativity and plays an important role in the development of a child,” says Joshua Burke, vice president of strategic marketing at Universal Music Group. “By expanding their creative and technical skills in a fun way, kids will learn, experiment and express themselves through their own music videos.” It seems to us that dancing with your favorite toys is far from the worst pastime.
It seems that the real potential of Vidiyo cannot be realized in a few sets, time must pass, and the audience needs to get used to the new social network. But, as if, this time LEGO was up to something big: for example, the other day it became known that UMG signed a contract with the artist LLAMA, an artist from Los Angeles, who is, let’s say, the human embodiment of a llama figurine from a designer. It will be interesting to see Vidiyo’s progress in a few months.