Toyota Is Creating More Accommodating Airplane Seats

Airplane seats aren't the most comfortable places to sit, and as their sizes shrink to accommodate more people they grow increasingly uncomfortable. We've seen alternatives to airliner seats in the past — some of them even worse than what currently exist — but Toyota's new version looks promising: they're adjustable, able to transform to fit different body shapes. The seats are being made by Toyota in a partnership with All Nippon Airways, and they'll (at least according to promises) make trips in economy class a little more comfortable.

That's not to say you're going to be able to pop them open wider, and so if you've bodacious hips this probably isn't the good news you're looking for. What the seats will offer, though, are rounded parts that are more gentle on the body, as well as soft materials so that you don't feel constrained by a bunch of hard parts.

In addition, the combined height and length of the seat's back and seat portion are adjustable, allowing passengers to contort them in such ways that they're more accommodating to one's posture. At the end of the day, they look more or less like existing airline seats.

The design is made is such a way that strain is taken off the hips and muscle fatigue is limited because the pelvis is supported. This distributes the pressure across the body more evenly, as well, making for an overall better trip. If all goes as planned, the seats will be coming on domestic flights this upcoming summer and will continue to roll out into next year.

SOURCE: Gizmodo