IN THE 1960s, Volvo drew attention to the importance car seats being designed for correct posture to provide not just comfort but also to promote safety.
Its seat designers consulted specialists on a subject that would come to be known as “ergonomics” and developed a revolutionary seat that set new standards in the industry.
In 2022, the Bentley Bentayga EWB (Extended Wheel Base) offers “the most advanced seat ever fitted to a car”, the company claims.
Called the Airline Seat Specification, it demonstrates a new benchmark in wellbeing features, providing the most comfortable experience possible.
Along with the systems to deliver auto climate and postural adjustment, the Airline Seat has a suite of technology beneath its handcrafted leather surfaces.
An array of no less than 12 electric motors operate silently to deliver 22 ways of adjustment. This allows the user to shape the seat to suit their body shape and also to work or rest.
The motors are joined by three intelligent pneumatic valve electronic control units, and the combination of motors and valves is overseen by a master seat motion & wellbeing ECU.
Studies have shown that actively supporting body weight in a dynamic way relieves strain, which can prime mental stress and create lack of focus. A natural supported posture has been shown to alleviate stress from tensed muscles.
The postural adjustment system automatically makes micro adjustments to the passenger’s seating position and pressure points, using an algorithm developed in collaboration with a chiropractor.
The system can apply 177 individual pressure changes across 6 fully independent pressure zones over a 3-hour period, improving comfort and minimising fatigue throughout a journey.
By subtly changing the shape of the surfaces of the seat over time, no single area of the body endures pressure fatigue for an extended period – meaning the occupant is always comfortable.
Working with specialists Comfort Motion Global (CMG), Bentley has developed a scientific, pneumatic postural adjustment system.
CMG has been working in the field of fatigue prevention for several years, conducting medical-based research trials that highlight the benefits of changes in posture for comfort and wellbeing.
By creating subtle changes in the seat surface contact zones, body tissues that have been under pressure are relieved, and other areas, pressure is then applied. This allows the body a chance to locally recover naturally.
Many premium and luxury models have ventilated seats nowadays, with fans within that blow hot or cool air onto the body. The Airline Seat offers even more with the world’s first seat surface sensing system for thermal comfort.
It uses sensors that constantly measure both passenger contact surface temperature and humidity level, to an incredible accuracy of 0.1°C every 25 milliseconds.
The auto climate system, which has 7 set points, uses existing seat heating technologies, but a new seat ventilation fan has been developed that can move approximately 80% more air than the previous system.
The Airline Seat specification also adds further cushion and backrest bolster adjustment, cushion extension, electric headrest height adjustment and a deployable footrest to the back of the front passenger seat.