Crazy telecommuting aid lets you ditch the digital trickery and have a video conference background with zero chance of computer glitches.

As video conferences surge past face-to-face meetings as the preferred way to do business during the coronavirus pandemic, casual attire is quickly becoming the business norm, as very few employers expect you to put on a suit or uniform just for a 15-minute Zoom or Skype chat. But the flip side to being able to dress down is the increased pressure to clean up your home, since it’ll be visible behind you to whatever coworkers or clients you’re talking with.

The quick fix for this is a video background overlay, for which your options include hundreds of free-to-download options from the Pokémon franchise and anime production company Studio Ghibli. When using digital Band-Aids, though, there’s the risk of technical difficulties distorting your appearance and creating distracting visual hiccups in your video feed, so if you want to be absolutely certain of a glitch-free solution, you’ll want to go old-school.

That’s not just any old piece of folded cardboard. It’s the Wearable Cardboard Background Concealer, the brainchild of Japanese Twitter user and cardboard craft creator @kenpon_g. After folding the side panels out from the center, the Wearable Cardboard Background Concealer reveals a pair of connected hoops comprising a second flexible section near its base.

These are holes to slip your arms through, and once you do…

…you’ve got a privacy-protecting shield that blocks your video conference counterparts’ view of anything other than your face.

▼ At 75 centimeters (29.5 inches) tall and 95 centimeters wide, the Wearable Cardboard Background Concealer sufficiently shields lines of sight if you’re sitting with your PC’s camera or smartphone within arm’s length.

When you’re done with your call, all you have to do is take the background off and fold it up for easy storage, and since it’s made of cardboard, it’s light enough to easily slip into a closet, behind a desk, or wherever else you want to stash it until your next meeting.

Initially, @kenpon_g made the Wearable Cardboard Background Concealer as a joke for his own amusement, but after getting a positive result online, he’s started offering them for sale for 1,480 yen (US$13.90) here through online marketplace Rakuten.

▼ The first batch of orders, ready to be shipped out to their purchasers.

Oh, and @kenpon_g also offers cardboard play houses through his Rakuten shop, in case you want to be like Mr. Sato and work from a home within your home.

Source: Twitter/@kenpon_g
Top, insert images: Rakuten/kanepashop
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