title: Comfort effects of a new car headrest with neck support.
abstract: This paper describes the design of a neck-/headrest to increase car comfort. Two studies were undertaken to create a new comfortable headrest with neck support. In experiment one, neck- and headrest data were gathered using 35 test subjects. The pressure distribution, stiffness of the foam material and position of the head and neck support were determined. In experiment two a full adjustable final headrest with adjustable neck support was constructed and tested with 12 subjects using a new adjustable headrest under virtual reality driving conditions. Experiment two showed that the headrest with the new/adjustable neck support was favoured by the majority of the subjects. 83% were satisfied with the stiffness of the material. 92% were satisfied with the size of the neck- and headrest. All subjects mentioned that the neck support is a comfort benefit in calm traffic conditions or on the motorway.
authors.affiliation: BMW AG, Knorrstrasse 147, D-80788 München, Germany. matthias.franz@bmw.de
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franz
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Durt
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zenk
authors.forename: P M A
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Desmet
mesh_terms: D001334:Automobile Driving; D004867:Equipment Design; D006804:Ergonomics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011482:Protective Devices; D055815:Young Adult