Williamsburg resident Dr. Ravi Shamaiengar has invented something that keeps him comfortable when he falls asleep on planes and he thinks it’s something that could help more people.
Shamaiengar is running Kickstarter campaign for his Nap Anywhere travel pillow, which is made of cloth-covered bendable metal that uses a vertical support and cantilever shelf, meaning the head rest is supported by the vertical piece of the pillow extending from the shoulder.
“I thought of origami. The way I wanted the Nap Anywhere to work is very much using architectural principles,” Shamaiengar said.
The Kickstarter campaign, which aims to raise the capital needed to launch Nap Anywhere into production, ends July 25.
Shamaiengar is a practicing radiologist at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center and Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton. He also cofounded The Health Journal in 2005 with his nephew Brian Freer; Shamaiengar now serves as the medical editor of the journal.
In addition to these roles, Shamaiengar is also an inventor. He said he’s had a few conceptual ideas over the years, but has never taken anything as far as he’s taken Nap Anywhere.
After suffering a neck injury during his residency, Shamaiengar woke up on a plane about four years ago with pain in his neck.
“I’m probably no different than anyone else where you feel strain on your neck muscles,” Shamaiengar said, explaining his neck was even more irritated due to a previous neck injury.
Shamaiengar tried several travel pillows to solve the problem, but they all failed him. He started sketching ideas for a new pillow, bought clay and moldable plastics and tried a few ideas. At some point in the process, Shamaiengar said he tabled the idea.
About two years ago, he was again on a plane and suffered the same experience of falling asleep and waking up with neck pain. After that experience, he continued on the Nap Anywhere idea as strongly as he started out.
Shamaiengar said his original ideas were very intricate, but realized he needed to simplify the design. He sketched out the Nap Anywhere, and created a design cut out from a piece of cardboard to test the size and fit: His design was complete.
To fully test the pillow, Shamaiengar modeled one out of layered chicken wire and duct tape. At that point, he knew his design was sound.
Shamaiengar made a few sample pillows on his home ping pong table and in his garage to test on his friends and family. Aside from his friends and family and a patent attorney, nobody else had seen the Nap Anywhere. To gauge response to it, Shamaiengar took the Nap Anywhere to last fall’s Virginia Inventors Forum expo last fall and took home the award for Innovation of the Year 2012.
“That was another catalyst to make me keep going,” Shamaiengar said.
Since winning the award, Shamaiengar spent time figuring out materials for a version of Nap Anywhere to market and finding a manufacturer.
Now, to fully launch it, Shamaiengar is awaiting the end of a KickStarter.com campaign, which launched June 25, to raise $40,000. As of Thursday afternoon, the project had about 680 backers with $35,669 committed.
With Kickstarter, a project has to receive full funding in order to receive any of the committed funds. In exchange for contributions of $39 or more, backers receive one or more Nap Anywhere pillows. Backers who contribute $195 or more receive five black Nap Anywhere pillows, five carrying bags and five adjustable bracing straps.
If the Kickstarter campaign ends and the $40,000 goal hasn’t been met, Nap Anywhere will still go into production but not as strong. If the goal is met, the pillows will be produced and Kickstarter backers will receive the Nap Anywhere pillows first.
“It would just make me feel really good if one day I’m on a plane or a train … and I just happen to see somebody using it. If that ever happens, that’s going to be awesome,” Shamaiengar said. “Somebody who is benefiting from it, something that’s making them feel good. That would be awesome.”
