Next-Gen Car Seats Could Monitor Pulse, Brain Activity

Semi-automated seat architecture under development at HELLA to meet future market needs.

Concept art for HELLA rear seat lighting. (Image courtesy of HELLA.)

Concept art for HELLA rear seat lighting. (Image courtesy of HELLA.)

German automotive supplier HELLA is developing technology for the next generation of electric vehicles, more specifically: how you’ll sit in them. The company is working on semi-automated seat architecture for a number of advanced seat features like automatic folding of rear SUV seats, integrated seat lighting and lockable turntable seating.

The Future of Car Seating

There is a growing demand for premium-car features among mid-range and compact car buyers, and that includes premium seating. HELLA’s foray into semi-automated seat architecture aims to help original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) meet this demand.

Some of the many possibilities for premium seating are heating and cooling features, automatic adjustment for seat backrests and seat rotation. Seats can also have built-in lights: HELLA is expanding its interior lighting portfolio by developing seat-integrated reading and ambient lighting.

The possibilities don’t end there. We’ve seen a lot of wearable sensors lately, many aimed at tracking user health. HELLA envisions the same idea in your car seat, with integrated sensors to monitor everything from brain activity to skin temperature to pulse rate, along with passenger weight and position. Features like this could enable safer travel for elderly or disabled drivers, and could be of special interest in self-driving or autonomous vehicles.

HELLA expects that luxury seating features in compact and mid-size vehicles will grow at an annual rate of ten percent or higher. “New-car buyers can expect to see a significant growth in the availability of ‘premium’ seating features in mid- and compact-size vehicles in the coming years,” said HELLA’s Gary Hawkins.

Hawkins is confident that HELLA’s work will help enable this growth.

“Semi-automated seating architecture will allow auto makers to reduce complexity and the cost of easy-entry seating, backrest adjustments, interior lighting and a host of other ‘luxury’ and safety-related seating features,” explained Hawkins. “We fully expect a variety of driver-assistance, ambient-lighting and health functions will be integrated into car seats in the future.”

For more automotive manufacturing news, check out Cummins Releases X15 Series Engines.

Written by

Michael Alba

Michael is a senior editor at engineering.com. He covers computer hardware, design software, electronics, and more. Michael holds a degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Alberta.