JLR's new shape-shifting seat makes your brain think you're walking

The new 'morphable' seat concept is aimed at improving the wellbeing of customers who lead sedentary lifestyles and those who spend long durations of time behind the wheel.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is working on a revolutionary seat concept for its future vehicles. Dubbed the 'morphable' seat, it features multiple actuators placed in the seat foam. These actuators are capable of recreating/simulating the natural walking rhythm, known as pelvic oscillation. This is achieved by the actuators making constant micro-adjustments, which the brain interprets as walking. The concept is currently under trial at JLR’s Body Interiors Research Division.

Sharing his thoughts on the development of the new seat concept, Dr Steve Iley (JLR's Chief Medical Officer) said, 'The wellbeing of our customers and employees is at the heart of all our technological research projects. We are using our engineering expertise to develop the seat of the future using innovative technologies not seen before in the automotive industry to help tackle an issue that affects people across the globe.'

While JLR has not given a definitive timeline of this concept's entry into its production-spec cars, it's safe to say that we're still a few years away. This isn't the only future in-car technology JLR is currently working on. In May 2019, the company had announced that it was working on a 'sensory' steering wheel that uses numerous heating/cooling cues to inform the driver about a wide range of driving actions. This project is being undertaken in association with Glasgow University.

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