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Seat comfort is a highly subjective attribute and depends on a wide range of factors, but the successful prediction of seat comfort from a group of relevant variables can hold the promise of eliminating the need for time-consuming subjective evaluations during the early stages of seat cushion selection and development. This research presents the subjective seat comfort data of a group of 30 participants using a controlled range of seat foam samples, and attempts to correlate this attribute with a) the anthropometric and demographic characteristics of the participants, b) the objective pressure distribution at the body-seat interface and c) properties of the various foam samples that were used for the test.

This paper presents results of two surveys, namely, a photographic measurements survey and a rider survey, conducted to determine how the type and origin of a motorcycle related to motorcycle dimensions, rider characteristics, seating posture, and motorcycle controls and displays. In the photographic survey, 12 most popular motorcycles covering three types (cruiser, sport, and touring) and three origins (Europe, Asia and North America) were measured from photographs taken in a standardized procedure with and without a rider. The data showed that the Asian and North American cruisers were very similar in all dimensions. These include seat height, seat to handlebar location, seat to foot rest location, foot rest size, and handgrip stance. This resulted in similar rider posture. North American sport motorcycles were more like cruisers than the Asian and European sport motorcycles.

This paper presents a process and its results used to define and design interior items such as controls, displays, handles, etc. for a low mass vehicle (LMV) being developed at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The exterior and interior design of the vehicle was done by students at the College of Creative Studies, Detroit. The size of the low mass vehicle is comparable to the current C-class production vehicles (such as Ford Focus), but it will weigh about 30% less than the Toyota Echo. The vehicle is targeted as a low cost, entry level, small car for markets in China, India and the United States. To assure that the feature content would be suitable for the three potential markets, students from China, India and the United States available on the UM-Dearborn campus were interviewed. The results from the survey were used to refine the exterior and interior features and content of the vehicle.