title: An analysis of human comfort when entering and exiting the rear seat of an automobile.
abstract: This paper describes a study of human motion and human comfort when entering and exiting the rear seat of an automobile. A simulator was used to test several possible door frame configurations, and various positions of the front and rear seats. Thirty-six human subjects were asked to enter and exit the simulator five times for each configuration and to answer a subjective questionnaire. The motion performed by each test subject was recorded by means of a VHS recorder and an ELITE motion measurement system. A statistical analysis was performed on the data from the questionnaires and comfort rankings were produced for the various configurations. The most influential design parameters were identified and iso-comfort surfaces were defined and fitted which provided a simple means of quantifying the effect of one of the main parameters.
authors.affiliation: DVS-Human Factors, Centro Ricerche Fiat, Orbassano, TO, Italy.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Giacomin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Quattrocolo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001336:Automobiles; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D004867:Equipment Design; D006804:Ergonomics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D011187:Posture; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires