Child seats are very important for any family with children, however if you have to move the child seat from car to car it can be really cumbersome due to its weight. Well, Volvo have just come up with an inflatable child seat concept, which obviously promises parent-pleasing practicality.
The seat inflates in less than 40 seconds and deflates with the help of an integrated pump. It tips the scales at under 11lbs (5kg), half the weight of a conventional seat. What’s more, this is gifted with Internet access via Bluetooth, allowing the user to perform a multitude of features, such as inflating it remotely. Volvo explains the seat can be folded into a weekend bag together with other child-related items.
This was all possible through the use of a material called drop-stitch fabric and Volvo explains its details: “We used a unique material called drop-stitch fabric when creating the prototype of the seat. This fabric is very strong when inflated as it can be brought to a very high internal pressure. It is a quite common technology in the boating industry and was originally developed by the military in an effort to develop inflatable airplanes,” said Maria Hansson, Project Manager at Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center in Los Angeles.
The seat was designed by Lawrence Abele, Design Manager at the Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center in Los Angeles. Lawrence said he focused on his two children when he came up with the idea. This is a rear-facing seat, as the position is the safest for a child to travel. You see, children’s necks are not as strong as those of adults and thus can not support the potential strains generated by a frontal crash. Thus, children need to use rear-facing seat up to three or four years of age.
“Actually, it would be better for all of us to travel facing the rear but given how cars are designed nowadays it’s not feasible. Young children, however, can and should travel facing the rear of the car as long as possible,” says Lawrence.
Volvo hasn’t mentioned anything about a production schedule, but we are pretty sure we’ll write about this again in the future.
