Swingy controller keeps kids moving while playing video games — with their feet

It appears that the ghost of the Nintendo Entertainment System’s Roll n’ Rocker controller is still haunting the game industry. But maybe … just maybe … in the year 2015, human beings have the technology to make the concept work?

Perhaps the husband and wife team of Niki and Ursa Popvic can realize the dream many game accessory designers before them have failed to achieve. A vision of a controller that makes the act of balancing for your dear life and playing a game at the same time, fun. Their product? The Swingy.

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Whether the Swingy is yet another rehash of the torturous Roll n’ Rocker controller, we won’t know until units are manufactured. Although no price-point is set for … and if … the Swingy makes it into full production: for a $55 pledge, I could receive a game-less and sensor-less pair of the wooden balance boards. For $88, I can snag a pair of fully working Swingys and a copy of its own unique take on Pong.

The Popovics are hoping to hit a modest $20,000 funding goal, which will go toward production of the Swingy and development of new games.

Inspired by their children’s lack of activity due to video games, the duo came up with a controller design that will allow kids to play games using their feet. The unit is a wooden half circle design, with a flat platform on top. The circular plane of the controller should be on the ground, while the user stands on top of the flat surface and tries to balance. A sensor tracks the rotational position of the unit, which sends information to a game (currently, it’s Pong).

Their Kickstarter campaign mentions that they consulted professionals in children’s health during the design process of the Swingy, which they optimized to improve a child’s sense of balance and physical conditioning.