Nissan Forum to feature ‘turntable seats’

Interior car design has historically been relegated by exterior design, possibly because most people only get to see other people’s cars from outside. But that seems to be changing, and a clue of that is the Nissan Forum minivan concept car, to be displayed at the next Detroit Motor Show. The new concept features no B pillar and a radical seat configuration called ‘Turntable Seating’. For instance, the two seats of the middle row can be rotated 90 degrees to face each other, or 180 degrees so the passengers can talk with the eventual three rear passengers without neckaches.

However, some of the car’s new items may cause problems to the users. The Forum’s floor can get dirty from food, since there’s a microwave oven in the console - that may produce even greater discomfort to parents if little children use repeatedly the swinging seats after eating food. Moreover, drivers will get distracted by loud music or gun shots if the rear passengers use their individual entertainment systems -that is, DVD players or game consoles connected to small monitors- without wearing headplugs.”