Aircraft seat-bed design offers a comfortable journey for all travelers

Another stand-out entry in the Create the Future Design Contest is the aircraft seat-bed design entered in the transportation section by Mario Martinez Celis from Mexico City. The concept design allows for 594 seats on the Airbus A380 which normally seats 555 but the real beauty of the configuration is that ALL passengers would be given the comfort of seat-beds with more space than ever before.

The design accommodates three aisles to give passengers better access to restroom facilities and seats and airline staff will appreciate the extra aisle for food and beverage trolleys and for passenger service.

With concern about Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) on the rise, the fact that all passengers will be able to stretch out in their airline bed, is a bonus. This can help to alleviate pressure on their legs, a common area where blood clots can form within the deep veins.

The seats can be manufactured to weigh the same as current aircraft seats with more flexibility and strength and can also be designed to suit certain body types or ages. The design is suitable for wide-body aircraft from Airbus or Boeing.

"The good thing about design is that most of the time, it is made from people that want to do good things for everyone else, trying to create a better future," said Mario.

The Create the Future Design Contest was launched in 2002 by the publishers of NASA Tech Briefs magazine and attracts entries from engineers, inventors and students from all over the world. Last year there were nearly 1000 entries and this year’s contest which closes on October 17 2008, has already received some outstanding entries.

The seat-bed configuration is currently ranked 5th in terms of online popularity out of the 372 entries received so far.