Kipp’n’Roll – Balance. Playfully Challenged

Balance meets technology: On an interactive balance board, users control a game field by shifting their weight and guide a ball to the target. The game demonstrates in a clear and playful way how balance, coordination, and body control can be trained.

Result

Key data

Result

The "Kipp’n’Roll" project was successfully completed on schedule. The demonstration exhibit was presented to the public at the Nacht der Technik 2026 hosted by the ZHAW School of Engineering.

The system operated reliably throughout the event, providing visitors with an intuitive and interactive gaming experience. The combination of the balance board and the dynamic playing surface attracted considerable interest and sparked numerous conversations about balance, coordination, and the underlying sensor and mechanical technologies.

Particularly encouraging was the positive feedback from visitors of all age groups. The game motivated participants to play repeatedly and demonstrated that concepts from biomechanics and mechatronics can be communicated in an engaging, playful, and easy-to-understand way. In this respect, Kipp’n’Roll successfully fulfilled its objective of making balance and coordination tangible through an attractive hands-on demonstration.

Thanks to its robust design and the positive experience gained during the Nacht der Technik, the demonstration exhibit is well suited for future public events, exhibitions, and outreach activities.

Description

The project combines mechanics, sensing technology, and movement into an interactive and technically transparent experience. The focus lies on balance and coordination — skills that play a key role both in rehabilitation and in the prevention of falls in older age. Research shows that targeted balance training is linked to greater stability, independence, and quality of life over time.

The game provides an accessible and motivating way to explore these topics: By shifting weight on a balance board, users control a movable playing surface in real time. The objective is to guide a ball safely to the target through precise balancing. Sensors capture every movement of the balance board and transfer it directly to the playing field. Adjustable segments, variable obstacles, and changing target points create different difficulty levels and keep the experience varied and challenging.