BACKGROUND: The number of smartphone users is immense. People can do ever more with a smartphone. Smartphones are used everywhere, including in bed and on the sofa. The awkward postures taken in these situations affect comfort and discomfort. In designing a bed, it might be useful to know which position is comfortable for smartphone use on a bed. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to define the most comfortable trunk angle for smartphone use on a bed. METHODS: To study comfort and discomfort, 52 participants were asked to use the smartphone on a bed. The trunk angle of this bed was adjusted to 6 positions from flat to upright and for each angle the comfort and discomfort was recorded. RESULTS: The results showed that the participants prefer a trunk angle range around 120 and 142 degrees. At the best trunk angle 29% of the participants felt comfort in the legs, 25% in the upper back and 16% in the shoulders. However, in this position 36% also mentioned discomfort in the lower back and 24 % in the neck. CONCLUSIONS: For smartphone use a bed is preferable which enables a trunk angle of around 120–140 degrees. For the legs this is comfortable. However, for the neck and upper back the problem of discomfort still needs attention.

Turboprop airplanes and trains have the potential in being more sustainable for short distance travels. This paper focuses on identifying factors that influence passengers in the selection of transport. A questionnaire was developed by 4 experts and used in 3 workshops with 58 aircraft interior design experts. Besides, the answers of 20 passengers were incorporated as well for a holistic view of different stake holders. Results indicated that comfort, efficiency and sustainability are three categories of factors that influence the choice, where the leading factors are space, waiting time, seat and air quality. For traveling less than 250 km the train is the prefered. Twenty seven % has a preference for the turboprop airplanes for a distance of approximately 500 km. Next to the seat, noise is the second major barrier for the choice of the turboprop. Participants also complain about the outdated image of turboprops. This implies that 1) the environmental impact should be presented to the passengers in the selection process to raise their sustainability concerns; 2) in the design of interior for turboprop, seat comfort and noisie reduction are concerns that should be taken into consideration designing the interior. Exciting elements in the design should be considered as well for stimulating a more sustainable way of travel.

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