Work from home innovations: wearable video conference background made of cardboard

Tokyo – What started out as a joke became a business opportunity for one Twitter user who created a wearable background for video calls made out of cardboard.

With many companies implementing a work-from-home schedule for their employees, video conferencing has become the go-to medium for meetings. A problem arises when the background of a virtual meeting can include personal belongings or portray a cluttered home. Virtual backgrounds don’t also prove much help because they can distort appearances and create technical difficulties with the video feed.

Thus, the Wearable Cardboard Background Concealer was born. It started out as a joke by Japanese Twitter user @kenpon_g who is also a cardboard craft creator, so he knows his way around cardboards. He was able to transform a piece into a shield that blocks the background and protects one’s privacy for a more secluded and professional feel during a meeting.

A portion of the box contains hoops to slip the arms through and provide enough support to hold the box upright from behind and provides enough coverage to block out a camera’s view of one’s surroundings. It is 75 cm tall and 95 cm wide.

This is what the whole thing looks like when worn.

Once the meeting is over, simply remove the background, fold it up and store away to be reused for the next meeting.

“I had a Skype meeting while working from home, and the background of my house became the topic of conversation. To hide it, I created this crazy item using cardboard that I attached to my back,” read the original caption.

With over 22,000 likes and 14,000 retweets, @kenpon_g’s creation was well-received by the online community and garnered a lot of requests to mass-produce the wearable background. Eager to cater to those in need, @kenpon_g listened to the requests and got busy.

The item is currently for sale at Rakuten, one of Japan’s leading online shopping platforms, at a special price of 1480 yen (S$19.68).

在宅勤務でスカイプ会議してるけど自宅の背景が気になると言う話を受け、背景を隠せて背負える段ボールなどという狂気の逸品が爆誕した。 pic.twitter.com/CZjekadQer

— ケンポン@段ボールテーブルの人 (@kenpon_g) April 20, 2020

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