Product Design

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Frolic www.frolicstudio.com

KPN Skating Chair

By 25-03-2018

Traditionally, in the Netherlands children learn ice skating using a chair that helps them to keep their balance. As part of a national campaign by the telecommunications company KPN, Frolic and N=5 developed a ‘smart’ ice skating chair – the KPN Schaatsstoel – to support and guide children during their first steps on the ice.

With several sensors measuring the child’s skating progress, the chair gives tips and tricks with real-time audio coaching from Sven Kramer, the Dutch Olympic Champion speed skater. Twenty of them were created, which you can find on the ice-skating rink at the Coolste Baan (Olympic Stadium) in Amsterdam.

Frolic: “We based the design on a typical school chair. We replaced the original legs with a pair of curved legs to help the chair ‘glide’ on the ice, ensuring the kids’ ice skates don’t get stuck in the legs. The back seat holds a screen, a speaker and custom electronics.”