Above: 3D printed ergonomic chair for gamers developed by Ikea, UNYQ and Area Academy/Image Credit: UNYQ
Ikea, the Swedish furniture giant, recently teamed up with UNYQ, a Startup specialising in developing medical wearables, to build ergonomic and customisable 3D printed chairs addressing the long-pending need of the gaming community.
The partnership aims to make gaming equipment ergonomic, customized and coherent and interactive with interior design. The partnership now has launched their first prototype at the IKEA Democratic Design Days in Älmhult, Sweden.
UNYQ will also collaborate with Area Academy, the educational eSports company, to explore the possibilities of using home furnishing to change gaming and the life around it.
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According to Area Academy founder, Tommy Ingemarsson, “When considering how to enhance your performance within gaming people usually think about the software of the device you use and not the functionality in your space. But ergonomics are actually an equally important factor in becoming a better gamer.”
Above: Gaming community has long been overlooked by companies while designing their products/Image Credit: Ikea
According to the statistics on the gaming community, there are around two billion and rising number of gamers across the world. A lot of people are also looking at gaming as a source of pure income and so the numbers will substantially rise in the coming years. For years this community has been overlooked by almost all the industries and hardly any product is targeted at this group. Gaming equipment has hardly seen and modifications in terms of design, customization, and accessibility.
Above: UNYQ worked closely with Area Academy to design the 3D printed chair/ Image Credit: UNYQ
Targeting this growing community, to make its new line of products which will be driven by the 3D printing technology. Its first product (currently in prototype stage) is a 3D printed chair for gamers. It took only nine weeks to design and execute, showing the vast potential of UNYQ’s design team as well as their means of production.
Speaking on the partnership with Ikea, UNYQ CEO Eythor Bender said, “We have always been focused on making choice, design, and customization available for as many people as possible. To be able to have this collaboration, which aims at both customizing equipment for gamers as well as making that design and innovation accessible to all through the IKEA concept is truly amazing.”
Eythor Bender added, “Affordability, choice, and accessibility have always been in the forefront for us when developing UNYQ to what it is today. To be able to work together with IKEA, a company that has democratized the world of interior design and truly brought together the concepts of design and affordability is very special for us – it is a mission that we share”.
By contributing to the gaming community through this new partnership, Marcus Engman, Head of Design at IKEA Range & Supply said, “By teaming up with UNYQ, IKEA wishes to learn how you could utilise photometric and 3D-scanning in combination with 3D-printing to make it possible to personalise products for better ergonomics and a more individualised appearance. Area Academy has the expert knowledge in what it takes in terms of equipment to make a truly great gamer, and to have a greater gaming experience.”
The result of this collaboration will be available for a limited time starting in 2020.
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