Boeing’s new patent aims to make sleeping on flights less torturous

Don’t you just love trying to sleep in the cramped, upright seats that airlines provide for us? The answer to that question is no, no you don’t. Nobody does. It’s practically torturous and can leave you feeling like crap for hours after you get off your flight. That’s why Boeing has patented a “sleep support system” that turns into something similar to a massage table which the company hopes will take the pain of sleeping on your flight. 

It’s not uncommon to kick off one’s vacation with a neck kink from an in-flight nap. Flying is rarely the most comfortable of experiences, but Boeing’s has filed a new patent to turn that trope upside-down—or maybe faceside-down would be more accurate. It’s called the “Cuddle Chair,” and it’s meant to live just under your seat. Here’s how it works: flyers will be able to retrieve the backpack-like package from beneath their seats, unfolding it by holding the pack in front of them, pulling the straps out, and attaching them to the “mating buckles” on the passenger’s seat headrest. A head cushion pulls out of the top of the pack, creating a “face relief aperture” for the user to rest on. The body of the pack acts at the chest cushion, angled, in theory, just right for snoozing.