Update: After IKEA joined forces with UNYQ, a medical wearables company that designs accessibility aids and brings them to life via 3D printing, the Swedish retailer invited ASUS to collaborate on more than 30 affordable gaming furniture and accessories.
Last year, teaming up with UNYQ and Area Academy, IKEA has started to explore the world of gaming, and now the company takes the next steps into it.
By inviting ASUS Republic of Gamers to the table, IKEA wants to combine home furnishing knowledge with ROG’s expertise in creating an exceptional gaming experience. The new gaming range – of more than 30 products – is being developed in IKEA Product Development Centre in China, Shanghai.
The line is expected to hit the market in China in February 2021 and elsewhere in October 2021.
UNIQ, on the other hand, made anything from personalized prosthetic limbs to support braces for sufferers of scoliosis. Their prosthetics are spot-on because the company employs the use of a body scanner in order to create a perfect fit for the wearer’s body.
By teaming up with UNYQ, IKEA wanted to deliver an improved home life for gamers.
While these sort of products would have normally been spotted on high-level E-sports players, IKEA hoped to deliver them at an affordable price to anyone who might need them, including gamers with mobility issues.
“It’s true that we haven’t seen the full potential of this group earlier and we haven’t looked into their specific needs at home as much as we should.” Michael Nikolic, IKEA Sweden Creative Leader said “There are many myths and misunderstandings surrounding gamers. In fact, it is a large group of people in all ages where gaming is even a full-time job for some.”
The series of products was presented at the IKEA annual design conference in Sweden and it included things like textured keycaps that aimed to minimize the slip factor and a mouse bungee that kept the mouse cord out of the way.
”It’s actually striking how unexplored this part of the gaming industry is. Focus has always been on the hardware, and everything else has been ignored”
– Tommy Ingemarsson, Area Academy founder and CEO
A biometric wrist support would keep the gamer’s hands in a more comfortable position while also preventing the dreaded wrist strain that occurs during sessions that last for hours. The wrist support could be fully customized to fit your wrist shape thanks to an app that can scan your hand via your phone’s camera.
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