Flexible textile pressure sensors have become the most valuable asset in the bedding and product development especially in designing and enhancing the function of pillows. These sensors are applied to provide highly accurate data on surface pressure distribution of pillows with such characteristics helping manufacturers assess the comfort their products can provide to the end-users. If these sensors are incorporated into a pillow’s surface, its producers will be able to see how weight is distributed over the head, the neck, and the shoulders – the three primary regions that affect sleep posture.
This way textile pressure sensors enable manufacturers determine favourable support and comfort of a pillow. For example, those that have poor pressure distribution will feel uncomfortable during the night and negatively impact a person’s sleep or may cause the individual to develop a neck and backache. The collected information from the sensors can then be used to understand in which parts of the pillow it is too rigid, and where it is too soft so that producers can make corrections to these.
Besides evaluating current products, these sensors are also useful when creating new prototypes of pillows. To assess the impact of various aspects of the design such as materials used, shape of the fill and texture of the pressure-sensitive material, manufacturers can easily implement changes to these variables and experiment with their effects. This allows them to design pillows which fit and meet the requirements of many customers, for instance for those who need support on the neck or for those who would like a softer, comfortable pillow.
The sensors also serve the useful purpose of affirming design proposals prior to the release of new pillows to the market. It currently enables manufacturers to test the products on prototypes several times before deeming them comfortable and performing enough. This concept is quite effective for enhancing the product quality thereby does not let the consumers to be dissatisfied and give back the product.
Therefore, flexible textile pressure sensors are the solution in revolutioning the design and development of pillows. By giving the pressure distribution in real time, those of them help bedding manufacturers develop more comfortable, supportive, and individualized pillow products and improve consumers’ sleep quality.
