Why Baemin Introduced the 'Hwaseanghoeui Chair' for Video Conferencing

Free Distribution of Virtual Background Airplane Seat... Comforting the Tired Hearts of Remote Workers

#Office worker Kim Jin-young (alias) was recently surprised while attending a meeting via a video conferencing platform during remote work. The backgrounds visible behind other participants' faces were unusual. While it was understandable that some sat in massage chairs, there were attendees sitting in movie theater seats, airplane seats overlooking the ocean, and even sports cars driving on the road. When Kim asked, "You all seem to be in nice places?" the common answer was ‘Baemin’.

The delivery app ‘Baedal Minjok (Baemin)’ has created virtual chairs for video conferences that are gaining popularity. Photos of people sitting in these chairs have been continuously posted on social networking services (SNS) and major online communities, becoming a trend among office workers. These are not real chairs but so-called ‘virtual goods’. Baemin’s operator, Woowa Brothers, recently distributed these virtual background chairs for video conferences for free through their ‘Baemin Stationery Store’.

On the 23rd, Baemin stated, "We planned the virtual backgrounds with the intention of creating more natural conversation starters during video meetings while working from home." They explained that they wanted to comfort and entertain people exhausted from remote work due to COVID-19.

The Baemin Stationery Store team, which creates Baemin’s in-house brands, gathered over 60 ideas when planning these virtual backgrounds. The concept was decided on ‘chairs’ because they convey a sense of presence and allow for various expressions. There are also various types of chairs. To give users the fun of choice, 18 types of chair backgrounds were prepared, including airplane seats, executive chairs, movie theater seats, massage chairs, submarines, and public transportation seats.

On the Baemin Stationery Store website, these chairs are listed as one of the products for sale. There is also a separate catalog explaining the chair’s name, price, color, and suitable situations as if selling real chairs. For example, it suggests the airplane chair background with an ocean view outside the window by saying, "If meetings going up the mountain are boring, try going to the sea." A user manual is also provided to make it easy to use and switch virtual backgrounds.

These backgrounds can be useful for anyone communicating via video chat, such as video conferences and online classes. Baemin explained that after initially distributing them to Woowa Brothers employees and receiving positive feedback, they are now available for free download on the Baemin Stationery Store homepage. Kim Bong-jin, chairman of Woowa Brothers, also recently supported this by posting on Facebook, saying, "Virtual chairs for video conferences made by Baemin," and "I only use these for Zoom meetings these days."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.