Design for comfort and social interaction in future vehicles: A study on the leg space between facing-seats configuration

With the advent of future vehicles, passengers expect to travel in comfort, and the free leg space between facing-seats could be an issue due to the unsuitability for all people, according to their anthropometric variability. A previous investigation survey showed the need to increase the leg-space between facing seats and, if installed, to improve the surface of the table placed in between. So, four different distances between seat-pans front edges of facing seats have been set-up and tested (44 cm, 51 cm, 58 cm, 65 cm) with a table in between. 13 couples of participants with different heights took part to experiments. The aim was to investigate the relationship between facing-seat distances and passenger wellbeing in terms of postural comfort and social interaction. Postural comfort has been analysed through optical tracking (for postural angles overtime) and questionnaires (perceived comfort). Social interaction feelings have been investigated with questionnaires. Experiment results showed the suitable distance could be 51 cm keeping the same table surface; otherwise, the 65 cm one could be ideal changing the table surface. Relevance to industry: With the advent of autonomous driving, vehicle manufacturers and designers are working hard to define new paradigms of public transportation in terms of seat layout, passenger wellbeing and interiors’ design. This paper contributes to increasing the general knowledge on the effects of distance between facing seats on postural comfort and social interaction.