Jaguar Land Rover’s ‘Shape-Shifting’ Seat Will Make Your Body Think It’s Walking

A prototype seat currently in development at JLR uses sets of actuators embedded in its foam base to ever so slightly change the angle of the seat on a constant basis. It says this constant pelvic oscillation can trick the brain into thinking that the body is walking, and keep muscles engaged to prevent them from shriveling with disuse.

"The wellbeing of our customers and employees is at the heart of all our technological research projects," says JLR's chief medical officer Doctor Steve Iley. "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."

JLR didn't announce plans to implement this seat technology in any current or future models yet, as it is presumably in the midst of verifying that it helps maintain occupants' physical fitness. It's a shame they can't expedite the test using industrial robotic butts as Ford does, but with how rarely sci-fi films depict cyborgs or androids complaining of back pain, keeping humans in the equation may be for the best.

All that aside, it sounds like a pretty neat and possibly healthy idea.

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