Inflatable child seat concept by volvo

Volvo Cars unveiled its latest Excellence Child Safety Seat Concept in Gothenburg, Western Sweden on Tuesday, envisioning how children could travel safely in cars in the future.

"We focused on three key benefits - making it easier to get the child into and out of the child seat from an ergonomic and comfort perspective, providing the child with a safe rearward facing seating position that enables it to keep eye-contact with either the driver or the rear passenger and of course including enough storage for those vital child accessories, such as diapers, bottles, wipes, and so on," said Tisha Johnson, Chief Designer Interiors at Volvo Cars Concept and Monitoring Centre.

Based on the earlier revealed XC90 Excellence 4-seat car and the Lounge Console Concept, the design team removed a front passenger seat and transformed the space into an adjustable rearward-facing child safety seat which offers the child passenger safer and more enjoyable experience.

The concept provides storage for small items beside the seat and a storage space underneath for diapers, blankets, or other larger items and enough space for a tote bag at the front of the seat under the dashboard.

The concept enables parents to swivel the seat counter-clockwise when seating the child and then lock the seat in a rearward facing position. It also provides a function to help small children safely lean back and sleep.

"For us, safety, convenience, and emotional factors outweigh everything else. Being able to maintain eye contact with your child from the rear seat , or being able to keep a bottle warm in the heated cup holders in the XC90 Excellence, would go a long way towards making life easier for parents taking their small child on a trip. Such alternative seating arrangements will become increasingly important as we move towards autonomous vehicles," Johnson added.

In the meantime, with its luxury orientation, the Excellence Child Seat Concept reflects the Sino-Swedish carmaker's luxurious step forward.

"We have been investigating the nature of progressive luxury for some time and we see a direct connection between luxury and emotional wellbeing. So we have taken the next step in redefining how the interior of a car can be used to suit our customers' needs. We have always placed a great deal of importance on child safety, but this takes things to the next level." Johnson said.