A Delft graduate's HeadRest turns an economy seatback into a hammock for your head

Kühne started the project in December 2014 as her thesis at TU Delft, in collaboration with Zodiac Aerospace's Human Factors and Ergonomics Lab, wanting to make sitting in a 17C economy seat a bit less hellish rather than adding to amenities at the front of the plane.

HeadRest fits onto an existing seatback: two wings fold out into a U-shape around the head, and stretchy fabric spans the wings to form a supportive hammock that keeps a sleeping passenger — and their drool — off the neighbour's shoulder. It was designed to retrofit existing seats, and the fabric is removable so it can be washed regularly. It remains a prototype.

It won the student category at the Crystal Cabin Awards, reported by WIRED in April 2016 — a third-party industry recognition. Zodiac Aerospace owns the rights to the design. No airline deployment had happened; cabin certification, and airline math on extra weight, maintenance and cost, stand between it and flights.

In April 2016, WIRED profiled HeadRest, a headrest concept by Manon Kühne, a Dutch industrial designer who had graduated from Delft University of Technology the year before. It won the student category at the Crystal Cabin Awards, created as a thesis project in collaboration with Zodiac Aerospace's Human Factors and Ergonomics Lab.

The design starts from a simple complaint about flying economy: the tiny seats, and the indignity of drooling on the stranger next to you. Kühne began the project in December 2014, saying from the start that she wanted to make economy class a nicer place, since too many air-travel innovations are 'for the happy few' at the front of the plane.

HeadRest fits onto the seat back and sports two wings that fold out, creating a U-shape around the head; stretchy fabric spans the wings, forming a hammock that supports a sleeping head and blocks the peripheral view of the neighbour, making a cramped seat feel a bit more spacious. It was designed to retrofit existing seats, with removable washable fabric. Zodiac Aerospace owns the rights to the design.

It fixes the most complained-about misery in economy: not being able to sleep upright without sliding onto a stranger.

It retrofits existing seats, so adoption does not require airlines to buy new cabin interiors.

The hammock doubles as a privacy screen, making the same cramped seat feel more spacious.

A seat supplier owning the rights gives a student design a realistic path toward production.

Comfort innovation pools at the front of the cabin; a retrofittable fix aimed at the ignored majority can win the industry's own award — but prototypes must survive certification and weight math.

As of WIRED's April 2016 report the design was a prototype and Zodiac Aerospace owned the rights, with no airline deployment announced. Any onboard future would require passing aviation certifications, and airlines would weigh the extra weight (more weight means more fuel), maintenance and cost against the passenger benefit.