Here is how you can make a game controller using your Ikea furniture

If you've ever dreamt of navigating video games using only the controller-like might of Ikea furniture, then you're in luck. Artist Marc Dubois has come up with a way to pair the sensors of your smartphone with household goods which can be used to navigate a specially developed platformer.

A video released by the ECAL university of art and design in Switzerland shows how a pair of bowls held together with wooden rivets can be made into a ball that will recognise it is being rolled via a smartphone gyroscope. By placing your phone inside a lamp's detached shade, it's possible to use the camera to detect the direction of light when you swivel the lamp — information which is then taken into the game.

While this method of using spotlight placement to control objects in a game isn't going to work for more complex titles, Dubois has developed a demo for his DYI controllers by the name of Collidem. It's unlikely you'll see this project being developed for commercial use but the experiment offers an example of innovative ways to interact with games.