Faurecia at the 2012 LA Autoshow Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired
Car seats haven’t changed much over the years. Aside from electronic controls, body-hugging bolsters and the ability to massage your back, nothing about seat technology could be called revolutionary. Until now.
Automotive supplier Faurecia sees a future where your seat is connected to your smartphone, which uses apps to customize the seat to perfectly suit your body and allows you to download the latest upgrades. The company is forging two paths toward this fantastic future of superlative comfort.
The first is an ultra-lightweight, super-compact throne (pictured above) that’s as close to an Aeron chair as you can get in an automobile. It’s called the Urban Rhythm (No — really. It is.) and everything about it was designed to reduce the weight and bulk of modern seats. That allows automakers to use less material inside the car, thereby reducing weight and boosting fuel economy. Faurecia calls it a “bio-sympathetic” design and claims the seats could be less than 30 mm thick — impressive, given the average seat is between 60 and 120 mm. What’s more, it’s actually comfortable.
We’re much more intrigued by the luxo-barge La-Z-Boy shown at left. It’s 12-way adjustable with nearly infinite configurability. It’s also Bluetooth equipped and connects with your smartphone so you can control everything through an app. That might sounds ridiculously counter-intuitive but it’s part of Faurecia’s SmartFit system, which tackles the issue of getting a proper driving position and comfortable pressure settings.
Image: Faurecia
It starts with an Android app that asks for basic measurement information like height, weight and gender. Then you snap a few photos of yourself (yes, you’ll need a friend) to provide specific posture data. Once you’ve done that, you swing your smartphone up and down with your arm extended and the accelerometer detects the length of your reach. Once everything is calculated, the phone transfers the data to the seat, which creates the perfect seating position for you. The fact it’s all Bluetooth-enabled means the seat adjusts itself to your customized setting as you approach the car.
Will the wonders never cease?
The app also includes a “therapy” function that targets everything from lower back pain to numbness and leg discomfort, and then provides a coaching session on how to adjust the seat to eliminate issues. And with the Bluetooth controls, you never have to touch the seat switches.
But what if you want a shiatsu-style massage or those trick bolsters that detect when you’re entering a corner and hold you firmly in place through the bend? The SmartFit app has that covered with the same style of in-app purchase you’ve come to expect from the App Store. For anywhere between a few bucks to $10, you can wirelessly upgrade your seat to suit your needs, no manufacturer or aftermarket installation available.
How Faurecia will be able to blend this high-tech (and heavyweight) technology with its new line of minimalist seats remains to be seen, but with everything being miniaturized Faurecia aims to bring both technologies to market within the next few years.
Source: Wired
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