IKEA Saved Our Lives in VR
by Tino Soelberg
After nearly strangling ourselves a few times with the cords using the Vive VR system, a simple trip to IKEA saved us from future strangulation!
After having spent a couple of months with the Vive we decided that we had to do something about the cabling system, and the first thing that came to mind was a simple solution similar to the mouse bungees that most of us have been using to keep cables out of the way when using mice. We thought about constructing something similar with rods and springs, but we love hacking hardware and we knew exactly where to turn for a great existing platform.
IKEA is part of our proud Scandinavian heritage and amongst their always inexpensive and highly functional products we picked out the Regolit floor lamp. We assembled the lamp and routed all the cables using velcro zip ties - simple, but really functional! The height of the “bungee” makes it fit our VR room perfectly and the flexibility works perfect even in the extends of the playing area - no more being afraid of stepping or tripping over the cord.. just VR immersion!
(Also, as shown in the pictures - our Siberia 350 works kick ass directly connected to the USB output on the Vive VR headset!)
