Comfort and discomfort in aircraft cabins: a method based on activity analysis

Abstract

The literature shows that aircraft seats are usually evaluated by objective methods in static experiments and performed out of context of use. This paper aims to present a method based on continuous pressure measurement of the passenger-seat interface along with other techniques such as observation, post-experiment report and video recording to evaluate comfort and discomfort in aircraft cabins. In a first step of the method, participants evaluated the performance of reading and resting in 40 minutes tests conducted in a simulated aircraft cabin interior. In a second step, a brainstorming session was conducted to generate improvements in the aircraft seat and cabin. The last step of the method consisted of the prototyped and analysis of the solution proposed during the brainstorming in a condition of use.

Keywords
Comfort; Ergonomics; Aircraft; Interface; Pressure Measurement