Citation

Kamp I. Appl. Ergon. 2012; 43(2): 329-335.

Affiliation

BMW AG Forschungs- und Innovationszentrum, Knorrstrasse 147, D-80788 München, Germany. Irene.Kamp@bmw.de

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.apergo.2011.06.008

PMID

21737062

Abstract

Producing higher efficiency cars with less and lighter materials but without compromising safety, comfort and driving pleasure might give a competitive advantage. In this light, at BMW a new light weight car-seat concept was developed based on the human body contour. A possibility to increase the comfort is using a seat which elicits positive tactile experiences. However, limited information is available on seat characteristics and tactile experiences. Therefore, this study describes the contour of three different car-seat designs, including a light weight seat, and the recorded corresponding emotion and tactile experience of 21 persons sitting in the seats.

RESULTS show that the new light weight car-seat concept rated well on experienced relaxedness, even with the lack of a side support. The most important findings are that hard seats with rather high side supports are rated sporty and seats that are softer are rated more luxurious.

Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Language: en