We’ve had all kinds of airline-seat stories, ranging from disappearing space to ideas to stack seats, put them in pods, even eliminate them, as Ryanair once threatened. But this time, the story is about making the seat conform to you!
Factorydesign, an industrial design firm, came up with its “Twister” seat after its creative director, Adam White, had a painful encounter with the “normal” seat on a 14-hour economy flight to Japan. The company then set out to change the picture. The result is a seat that takes up no more space than a regular seat, but adjusts to the human spine.
The seat is filled with ribs connected to a central stem that mimics the spine and moves with the passenger’s weight. When the passenger finds the most comfortable position, it can be locked in place; pressing the button again returns it to neutral. Regular seats have only one hinge to change position, and usually can’t move much without running into the passenger behind.
More pictures and description, including a ‘skeleton view’ of the mechanism can be seen at the Telegraph (UK) by clicking HERE.
