Morph airline seat concept adjusts to passenger size

Airplanes aren't known for being the most roomy vessels one can travel in, and dealing with matters concerning personal space and passenger size has been a touchy — and sometimes heated — topic. Various solutions have been proposed, such as having static seats available in different sizes, but the latest is perhaps the most unique — Morph, an adjustable airplane seat concept that adjusts to different passenger sizes.

Morph is the work of a design firm in London, and the idea behind it is that passengers can pay for a bit more room (or pay less for less room, on the flipside) while staying in economy class. Someone who needs or wants extra space and pay more, and those of small stature (a child, for example) can save some pennies by going for a smaller-than-typical seat. You can see the concept in action in the video below.

The seats, with each in its neutral position, is 18-inches wide and in a pre-reclined position. The armrests and headrests can be adjusted, then, for an ideal amount of space for each passenger. This would work out well, for example, if someone is traveling with a child, allowing the adult to have more room since the child requires less. If someone is seated next to an empty seat, it would be even better, allowing the unused seat to be shrunk to its smallest size for more room overall.

The question is how it would work when one passenger elects to have more room, thereby reducing the amount of room available to the passenger to the side who may not appreciate having less space. Sitting in one of the reduced-sized seats would need to be a choice, then, to keep flyers from getting upset, and that could cause logistics problem if no one wants the seats or if too many flyers elect to pay for maximum space, reducing the seat next to them to a tiny (and nearly unusable) 10-inches.

SOURCE: Wired