Design
Is This Crazy Chair the Future of Air Travel?
Boeing has filed a patent on an "upright sleep support system," so let's give it a closer look.
Want a good night's sleep? Stay off an airplane. If the increasingly tiny seats, thin padding and restricted legroom fail to interrupt your circadian rhythms, then your armrest-hogging neighbors certainly will. Shelling out for a first class ticket and one of those fancy fold-down beds is one solution. For the everyman on a budget, coffee is another.
But there may be another way. The U.S. Patent Office has approved airplane manufacturer Boeing's patent for a "transport vehicle upright support system." Translation: A more space-efficient way to get some shuteye on a long and uncomfortable flight, even while sitting straight up.