Seat pressure maps are often used to evaluate comfort of the users. In this study, we explored the relationships between pressure maps and comfort/discomfort of users in aircraft seats with a focus on a new 6-division method on the pressure maps collected at the bottom of the cushions. An experiment was designed where three cushions with identical shapes but different stiffnesses were prepared. 33 subjects joined the experiment and after sitting on each cushion in 4 postures, they completed comfort questionnaires. Pressure maps on the top as well as the bottom of cushions were collected and analysed. Results indicated that measures on the proposed 6 divisions, especially on the distal posterior thigh regions and regions close to ischial tuberosity of the bottom pressure maps, had larger correlation values to comfort scores compared to other division methods. Practitioner summary: The relations between comfort/discomfort and seat pressure maps collected from the top/bottom of three cushions were studied with 33 subjects in four postures. The distal posterior thigh and ischial tuberosity regions in the proposed 6-division of the bottom pressure maps had larger correlation values to comfort/discomfort compared to other methods.@en

During a flight, passengers spend most of their time sitting in their seats. Studying the comfort and discomfort while passengers are sitting is helpful to improve the overall comfort during a flight. Pressure mats are commonly used in studies to collect pressure distribution in order to research sitting comfort. Different from most past studies, in which pressure mats are placed on the top of the cushions, the focus of this paper is to show the potential of placing pressure mat below the seat cushion. Three identical cushions differing in stiffness were prepared. The pressure distribution of 12 sitting postures was collected from 33 subjects both at the top as well as at the bottom of the foam in a randomized order. After sitting on each cushion, the participant was asked to leave the seat and complete a sitting comfort and discomfort questionnaire. The results show that the softest cushion got the highest rank in short-term comfort and lowest rank in short-term discomfort. The recorded pressure distributions both on the top and at the bottom of the foam can influence comfort and discomfort. This indicates the potential to use pressure distributions under the foam to evaluate the perceived comfort and discomfort in sitting, which might reduce the intrusive feeling of theparticipants in comfort studies.@en