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.

“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.

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.

If everything goes according to plan, Kickstarter pledges of at least $30 will receive their NodPod head hammocks in October 2016.

via New Atlas