Peter Vink

The Influence of Active Seating on Car Passengers' Perceived Comfort and Activity Levels

New technologies have led to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Sedentary behaviour is characterised by physical inactivity and is associated with several health risks. This excessive sitting does not only take place in the office or at home, but also during daily commute. Therefore, BMW AG developed an active seating system for the back seat of a car, consisting of sensors in the back rest that register upper body movements of the passenger, with which the passenger controls a game. This study evaluated three different aspects of active seating compared to other tasks (reading, working on laptop, and gaming on tablet). First, discomfort and comfort perception were measured in a 30-minute driving test. Discomfort was very low for all activities and participants felt significantly more challenged, more fit and more refreshed during active seating. Second, heart rate was measured, indicating a light intensity, but nevertheless non-sedentary, activity. Third, average and variability in activity of six postural muscles was measured by electromyography (EMG), showing a higher muscle activity and higher muscle variability for active seating compared to other activities. Active seating might stimulate movements, thereby increasing comfort and well-being.

Improving car passengers' comfort and experience by supporting the use of handheld devices

BACKGROUND There is a demand for interiors to support other activities in a car than controlling the vehicle. Currently, this is the case for the car passengers and--in the future--autonomous driving cars will also facilitate drivers to perform other activities. One of these activities is working with handheld devices. OBJECTIVE Previous research shows that people experience problems when using handheld devices in a moving vehicle and the use of handheld devices generally causes unwanted neck flexion [Young et al. 2012; Sin and Zu 2011; Gold et al.2011]. In this study, armrests are designed to support the arms when using handheld devices in a driving car in order to decrease neck flexion. METHODS Neck flexion was measured by attaching markers on the C7 and tragus. Discomfort was indicated on a body map on a scale 1-10. User experience was evaluated in a semi-structured interview. RESULTS Neck flexion is significantly decreased by the support of the armrests and approaches a neutral position. Furthermore, overall comfort and comfort in the neck region specifically are significantly increased. Subjects appreciate the body posture facilitated by the armrests and 9 out of 10 prefer using handheld devices with the armrests compared to using handheld devices without the armrests. CONLUSION More efforts are needed to develop the mock-up into an established product, but the angles and dimensions presented in this study could serve as guidelines.

Investigating Car Passenger Well-Being Related to a Seat Imposing Continuous Posture Variation

Static sitting when travelling by car is known to cause physical fatigue. It is generally encouraged to periodically engage in non-sedentary activities, but this is not possible when traveling by car. The present study aims to investigate the influence of moving the vehicle occupant’s body passively. This posture variation is realized by continuously varying the seat configuration, i.e., the seat pan and backrest inclination. For the experiment, 21 participants sat twice on the same seat for 45 minutes: Once in a static and once in a dynamic configuration. The measurements obtained were the observation of body movements and questionnaires on perceived discomfort, seating comfort and experiential feelings. The results show that participants move significantly more in the static configuration and that they perceive more discomfort. The seat’s comfort and support are evaluated significantly better in the dynamic configuration. The dynamic configuration results in participants feeling significantly more active, energetic, stimulated, pleasantly surprised, pleased, comfortable, accepting and calm. The static configuration results in the participants feeling marginally more tired and significantly more bored. Further research should investigate the effects in the context of driving on the road and an actual driving task. However, it can be concluded that the continuous movements of the seat have a beneficial effect on objective and subjective indicators of well-being.

Comfortable mobile offices: A literature review of the ergonomic aspects of mobile device use in transportation settings

BACKGROUND The use of mobile devices as an addition to or replacement of desktop computers for traditional office work results in more flexibility of workplaces. Consequently transportation time is used for office work and this asks for comfortable mobile offices. OBJECTIVE The aim of this review is providing a framework of the relevant elements for comfortable mobile offices and defining needs for future research. METHODS This literature review draws on 68 papers, theses, reviews and critiques. RESULTS The framework is based on existing literature on traditional office ergonomics and comfort literature for different transportation modes like trains, buses, airplanes and cars. CONCLUSIONS The main differences with traditional offices are the type of devices, dynamic versus static situation, the sole use of mobile devices and therefore the need for a good arm support to avoid an uncomfortable neck flexion, limited space, and the presence of strangers which influence the privacy perception. Important topics for future research are: the effect on the employee and the environment of the ability and demand of working anywhere, and the requirements for the physical aspects of mobile offices.