Beds and methods for applying a micro traction force on the body of a user over time to treating or relieve back/spinal pain. Embodiments of a bed according to the present invention provide a section of the bed that is movable relative to other sections of the bed and apply a restorative force to the movable section such that when a user lays on the movable section, the movable bed section is displaced and a tractive force is applied to the user’s body due to a force apparatus applying a force thereto. The movable bed section can be suspended by a tensional support and/or supported by a compressional support in various configurations disclosed herein.

User comfort control system having non-invasive bio-patch. In some embodiments, a system for providing comfort of a person can include a wearable patch configured to be attached to a skin of the person and sense a biological condition of the skin, and to transmit information representative of the sensed biological condition. The system can further include a controller configured to receive the information and generate a control signal. The system can further include an adjustment element associated with a furniture item implemented to support and provide comfort for the person. The adjustment element can be in communication with the controller and be configured to adjust a comfort level of the furniture item for the person in response to the control signal.

A modular, deformable, repositionable, cushioned gentle cushioned, resistive infant positioning system and method for use with infants is provided that includes first and second tubular pillows each having two longitudinally-elongated chambers adjoined at a first and second pillow lateral flexure-enabling element, respectively. The second tubular pillow is preferably wider than the first tubular pillow and includes two straps. Methods of using the pillows of the cushioned, resistive infant positioning system are presented that provide positioning, calming, and/or the prevention and/or the correction of head shape deformations.

A furniture system includes an office productivity structure (OPS). The furniture system also includes a sensor coupled to the OPS, the sensor operable to detect occupancy of the OPS and generate an output signal indicative of the occupancy; and a processor coupled to the sensor. The processor is operable to receive the output signal generated by the sensor, determine, based on the output signal, that the OPS is occupied, and, in response to determining that the OPS is occupied, generate a command to initiate at least one action associated with the OPS or an operator of the OPS.

An apparatus to test, at home, the firmness of a sleep surface to be used by an infant is disclosed. The apparatus is based on the home version of the Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 8811.1:2013. The apparatus comprises two pieces, one piece is the support to hold a defined weight, and the other piece is used as a scale to visualize how much the piece with the weight sinks into the sleep surface.

The present invention relates to a method for improving sleep quality, comprising the steps of measuring pressure by means of sensors in locations distributed by regions of a mattress; calculating the SQI based on the prominent movements detected depending on the time of night; calculating the mean pressure measured by each sensor; calculating the difference between the mean pressure and the pressure measured by that sensor when there is no user on the mattress; calculating the mean pressure difference for each region of the mattress; calculating a weight factor for each region of the mattress; comparing the weight factor with a reference value; varying the configuration of the mattress by increasing or reducing the support level in the regions. The present invention also relates to a related system and mattress.

A system including a self-adjusting chair is provided. The system includes a chair that is configured to be adjustable to an occupant. The system also includes a plurality of sensors, wherein each sensor of the plurality of sensors is configured to measure a characteristic of the occupant and to transmit a signal that indicates the characteristic of the occupant. In addition, the system includes a plurality of actuators, wherein each actuator of the plurality of actuators is configured to adjust a property of the chair. Further, the system includes a controller that is configured to receive at least one signal from at least one sensor of the plurality of sensors and to instruct at least one actuator of the plurality of actuators to adjust at least one property of the chair based on at least one characteristic of the occupant.

A passenger seat comprises a backrest, a seat element and a size increasing mechanism which is configured to convert a weight acting on the seat element when a user sits in the passenger seat into an increase in the depth of a seat pan of the seat element that can be used by the user from a rest-position depth to a to an operational-position depth.

A system for simultaneously measuring the indentation hardness properties, span properties, and resilience properties of a mattress includes a first indentation means and a second indentation means, and means for urging the first indentation means and the second indentation means into the mattress with a predetermined force, and also includes laser means for projecting a laser line configured to map, preferably by photographic triangulation, the amplitude, shape, and time-dependency of the resultant deflection of the mattress surface between the first indentation means and the second indentation means. A method for simultaneously measuring the indentation hardness properties, span properties, and resilience properties of a mattress is also provided.

Introduced are a bed device system and methods for: gathering human biological signals, such as heart rate, breathing rate, or temperature; analyzing the gathered human biological signals; and controlling the bed device system, e.g., a temperature of the bed device, based on the analysis.