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Getting a
good, relaxing nap while travelling over long distances has always been
an impossible dream, but now someone claims to have come up with “the
ultimate sleep travel solution”. Introducing the NodPod.
After deciding she’d had enough of sleepless commuting for work,
Kentucky-based designer Paula Blankenship decided it was time for a
superior alternative to the common travel pillow or a sweatshirt mashed
up against the car window. After several prototypes, she came up with
the NodPod, a sort of hammock for your head that sits under your chin
and attaches to the headrest of a plane, train or automobile with
Velcro. “It looks ugly, but it feels fantastic,” Blakenship says.
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“For years I searched to find a solution for forward head motion but
nothing on the market seemed to work,” the 53-year-old inventor adds. “I
also designed many prototypes for travel pillows and blankets but
nothing worked as it should. All were too bulky and none solved the
forward head motion issue. The simple solution came to me while
traveling on a plane to visit a friend. When I arrived back home, I sat
out to create my simple and effective design and wallah… the NodPod was
born !”
“The reason it’s hard to rest or sleep while traveling is because you
can’t keep your head, neck and back perpendicular and at a 90-degree
angle similar to how you sleep in bed at night,” the NodPod Kickstarter
crowdfunding page states. This results in neck and body pain, jet lag or
waking up to find you’re resting your head on the shoulder of a total
stranger. This is where the NodPod comes in. It supports your head,
keeping it at a sleep-conducive 90-degree angle and preventing any
forward head motions.
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If you’re thinking that the NodPod is not the most looking solution for
travel naps, you’re right, but it does come with the immense advantage
of keeping your drooling mouth shut, while preventing post nap neck
pains. Plus, I’m sure Blakenship, a professional commercial interior
designer, will be able to refine the look of the NodPod to make it
easier on the eye.
But the truth is people don’t seem to care about the unappealing look of
the NodPod, if its crowdfunding success is any indication. The simple
device has managed to raise $131,420, blowing past its $20,000 goal,
with 21 days to go. People have definitely been waiting for something
like this for a long time.
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If everything goes according to plan, Kickstarter pledges of at least
$30 will receive their NodPod head hammocks in October 2016.
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