New Twist on the Economy Seat Wants to Eliminate Long-Haul Pain
Skift Take
There are many hurdles ahead before a concept as radical as the Twister could take-off, but it has sound principles in ergonomics to back it, and recognizes a pressing need for more healthful conditions in very long-haul Economy. If nothing else, White and Factorydesign have started a very important dialogue.
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If you find long-haul flights in the Economy cabin excruciating, take some comfort: you're not alone.
The industry's designers fly long-haul Economy too, and they're not immune to the pain.
One designer, however, has taken his inspiration from human anatomy to reduce the pressure which builds up in the body during very long-haul flights.
Adam White, Director of London-based Factorydesign, came up with the idea of the Twister seat at 35,000 feet, while trying (and failing) to find a comfortable position.
"I have had to fly many long-haul flights in Economy, but it was just one of those moments where, seven or eight hours in, I reached a point where I was no longer comfortable," White tells us. "I realized that, while I was twisting and turning, the seat was only working as a hinge, and that's not how the body is. That's where the idea of a seat that twisted to the body came from."
From Hinges to Spines
White began drafting up his concept of a Twister seat with articulating rib structures pivoting on a central spine both on the seat back and on the bottom, which allow the seat to shift its shape as the body does.
"The real breakthrough of the idea was that all previous seats were based on, essentially, a series of hinges," says
