Increasing User Comfort for Public Seating - User Interaction with Materials

Abstract:

This paper focuses on possibilities in increasing the user comfort of seating furniture in public waiting interiors. There are several aspects helping to achieve the best comfort of sitting, such as appropriate ergonomic design, shape, or material composition. While every of the said aspects have a significant impact on the final comfort, it would be better, or even essential, to adopt a complex view of this issue. One of the complex ways to increase the user comfort is to observe the interaction of the human (the “user”) with the material. The paper describes tactile properties in the interaction with basic types of materials the public gets in direct contact with when sitting in public waiting interiors. The conducted research focuses on tactile properties leading to contact comfort of the most used materials, and analyses the properties in relation to temperature, roughness, hardness and comfort. The four mentioned tactile properties are essential for our goal – an increase in user comfort. The preferred materials were defined according to a preceding terrain survey which explored what materials are most commonly used for present seating furniture. The paper then presents the methodology and results of the research focusing on interaction between the human user and the material. The results of the said research might prove useful for future designing and development of seating furniture which focuses on the user’s sensational balance and calmness, i.e. the optimal comfort.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 1025-1026)
• Pages: 809-813
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1025-1026.809
• Online since: September 2014
• Authors: Vítězslav Gaja*
• Keywords: Contact Comfort, Human, Interaction with Materials, Materials Comfort, Public Waiting Rooms Seats, Thermal Comfort, Upholstered Public Seats

References

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[5] V. Gaja: Tactile properties od materials in dependence on contact comfort of sitting in public waiting rooms. In: Trendy furniture and housing Brno: Mendelu university in Brno (2013), p.120.

[6] V. Gaja: Improvement user convenience of seating furniture for waiting public space in the interaction with selected material. (Mendelu university in Brno, 2013).