A new adjustable support pillow claims to allow travellers to fall asleep wherever they are.
The disc-shaped NapAnywhere pillow is a portable and collapsible foam structure that can be twisted into shape and perched between your head and shoulder, allowing you to sleep while travelling as a passenger on planes, trains, buses and cars.
The pillow comes with a strap that is pulled diagonally across your chest and tightened to keep it in place. The ears of its upper portion can be moulded around the side of your face, chin and behind your head for extra support, while its central part should be tucked in as close to your neck as possible and the flaps of the bottom portion folded down to grip the shoulder.
Once in place, your head can be adjusted forwards or backwards, to gain more support for either your chin or the back of your head.
Made with a "strong yet flexible endoskeleton covered with comfortable foam padding" and wrapped in "high-quality fabric", the unique pillow is said to be different from U-shaped neck pillows which can be "too bulky" and "feel claustrophobic" when wrapped around your neck, and is small enough to fit into a briefcase or laptop.
The NapAnywhere, which costs $US59 ($67), lets you sleep "effectively" in a seated upright position by allowing your neck muscles to relax. It was created by Virginia-based Dr Ravi Shamaiengar, who has PhD in medicine as well as a Master of Science degree in anatomy and a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry.
Following a sports-related injury which made sleeping while travelling on a plane and in a car difficult, he decided to create a more supportive pillow than what was already available on the market and began designing the NapAnywhere pillow.
The pillow debuted in 2012 at the Virginia Inventors Forum Expo and was launched on Kickstarter in 2013 to raise funds for its production. It received the Product Innovation Award at the 2014 International Travel Goods Show.
"As a physician, I strive to have an impact on people's lives every day. I truly believe with the Nap Anywhere I can help more people than ever before", said Dr Shamaiengar in an interview with the Art of the Kickstart.
The NapAnywhere pillow joins a string of other portable pillows that have previously claimed to offer respite to travellers.
Earlier this year, the 'b-tourist' band, a strange contraption made of an elastic fabric stretched between two plane seat headrests, claimed to allow air passengers to "quietly eat, read a book, watch a movie and sleep without being disturbed" in their own private area. The band provides a place to rest your head while sleeping by connecting the centre points of the bottom edges of the band. The strip is said to be lightweight, easy to pack and assemble, and can fit several seat plane seats.
In 2012, the Ostrich Pillow, developed by Kawamura-Ganjavian, an architecture and design studio with offices in Madrid and Lausanne, claimed to "enable power naps anytime, anywhere," including in airport lounges and on planes, and counter the ill effects of jet-lag and long-haul flights.
The bizarre-looking pillow has a hole in which to put your head, and a mouth hole designed to allow its wearer to breathe easily. It also has two side holes where you can store your hands.
