Creative ideas abound when it comes to aircraft seating concepts, as London-based agency New Territory highlights.
Under the auspices of its Universal Movement spin-off company, London-based creative agency New Territory recently unveiled the Interspace aircraft seat, which it describes as “revolutionising mass transit seating”.
It’s a fairly audacious claim, but one that is amply backed up by the product, which utilises a patented wing support system and aims to provide a new level of comfort for all passengers regardless of their seat price.
Interspace features two easily deployable padded wings that fold out from the seatback, allowing passengers to rotate and lean on a cushioned surface, thereby providing greater lateral support. There is also the option of only deploying one wing on either side of multiple, adjacent seats, effectively creating a private bay for families or small groups of passengers.
Founder and chief creative officer at New Territory Luke Miles says the product is poised to “democratise the cabin” and here’s why: “One of the main drivers behind the creation of the Interspace seat was the fact that there has for too long been a lack of innovation in premium economy and economy class seating”, he elaborates.
“We have watched business and first-class air travel pull away from standard seating and leave a substantial gap in the quality of service we receive between these tiers and so we wanted to create something that bridges that divide slightly.”
He continues: “Through Interspace we are giving something back to the economy class passenger and improving the comfort experience, while maintaining the clear division in what constitutes the airline classes.”
Miles explains that working with the team at SWS has been pivotal to the project: “They have been outstanding in their support and we are very proud to call them partners.”
In terms of the kind of airlines likely to pick up the new design, the agency’s founder says that since Interspace was designed to completely revolutionise the premium economy experience, he envisages the seat “being utilised across major, high-density airlines. We did not have one type of airline in mind; we partly wanted to use the launch of this seat to identify the level of interest from leading companies within the industry.”
Miles is adamant that Interspace will make waves in the marketplace, asserting that “there is nothing that addresses the basic comfort needs of passengers in the way that Interspace does for this tier of travel.
“We have taken a relatively simple yet frustrating issue, one we all as airline passengers experience whenever we travel in economy class, and solved this problem through strategic and innovative design.”
Looking ahead to the future of airline seat design, Miles says the new aircraft seat is “just the start of the economy revolution. Of course, Interspace could easily be found across all classes, but we wanted to address the economy issue first, as this is where the most drastic need for change and innovation is required.”
He concludes with a bold statement: “Interspace has opened the discussion around the possibilities for improving the experience at the rear of the plane.
“From here, we anticipate a strong shift in attention towards improving economy class, not just from the comfort perspective but also in the way that technology can aid passenger services in the years to come, not just in planes but also for other types of transportation.”
For more information, visit newterritory.io/.