What would beds, couches , doors and clothes look like if humans had prehensile tails? [duplicate]

Question

So, let's say long ago, somewhere along the evolutionary process, homo sapiens got fully prehensile tails that can support their weight, of about 1,5 to 2 meters long.

The tail is naked, about as much hair as an arm.

It also has a tactile pad at the end.

The tail is not taboo and they only cover it to shield it from cold.

Assuming they build their cities in tree tops, and do some constant tree swinging, how would they design this four particular things?

For example:

Beds as we know it would be VERY uncomfortable, unless they all slept with their belly down...and didn't move at night, and I think hammocks would have the same problem.

Couches: I can't imagine one with a big hole on the back...

Doors: The doors we have would cause an serious amount of pain if closed on their tails, and since they're about 1,5 - 2m long, I think a "normal door" would be banned from their society. A "doggy door" thing is the best idea I had so far, but... how would they lock it?

Clothes: There can't be dresses or skirts, since, even if they have an extra sleeve for the tail, some taboo parts of the body would show if they lifted their tail too high, or used it to have a good grip on a tree branch.

Answer 1

I would not be really bothered with doors. I will use personal anecdote to justify it:

I do historical fencing as hobby and at Renaissance faires I carry my sword in a scabbard. At first, I bumped into everybody and everything. After a while, I learned to walk with it as smoothly as without it. Now imagine human with tail which he can control and have spatial ability (like you know where your hand is with closed eyes) to know where his tail is. Except kids who are still learning motor abilities, humans would learn to watch the tails basically on subconscious level.

Bed mat could be designed like this, made for sleeping on side

Sofas could have have a gap/pocket between sitting cushion and back cushion just to fold your tail there. No need to have hole through.

Clothes might have hole, not different from that overlapping hole in older backpacks made for wired headphones dragged from your Walkman. Like this, but from overlapping clothes instead of rubber. Yes it is impractical, but fashion often is.

Toilets might have water reservoir on side instead of back. Many drawer handles on furniture might have gap wide enough to be opened with tail as well.

Answer 2

Beds as we know it would be VERY uncomfortable, unless they all slept with their belly down... and didn't move at night, and I think hammocks would have the same problem.

Why would beds be a problem? If their anatomy is at all sane (read: monkey-like), their tail will be able to hang down in line with their spine. Sleeping on their tail will be no worse than sleeping on your back is for us normal humans because of sleeping with our spines against the bed.

From experience, I suspect hammocks will be even better. Have you ever slept in a hammock? You'd think a stretched piece of cloth would be uncomfortable, but they are actually remarkably body-conforming. (They may prefer tightly woven hammocks over more open netting, though, so body parts can't accidentally become entangled. Note that this includes "solid" cloth, which technically is still a woven mesh.)

Couches: I can't imagine one with a big hole on the back...

You suffer from a severe lack of imagination, then 😉. Just imagine a park bench with padding. Note that the seat won't be as deep, or will have cutouts such that you have to sit in a certain spot. You should also read through How would a race of humanoids with tails design [vehicle] seats? which has some alternate suggestions.

Doors: The doors we have would cause an serious amount of pain if closed on their tails, and since they're about 1, 5 - 2m long, I think a "normal door" would be very banned from their society.

Prahara already mentioned this, but I don't see why doors would be a problem. I open a door, I walk through it. It doesn't close on me.

Are you thinking specifically of self-closing doors? Those might be banned, but they also serve an important function. I think it's more likely that, as Prahara noted, your people are just expected to get used to them.

That said:

A "doggy door" thing is the best idea I had so far, but... How would they lock it?

...what's the problem here? All you've done is taken a "regular" door and turned it on its side. Why would locking be any different? As a "bonus", you have to add parts to make them not self-closing, rather than the other way around, and the hinges might be easier to build (since they don't have to carry uneven loads).

The potential problem I see with this style of door is that they almost have to use their tail to open it, because the natural leverage point is going to be near floor-level. Maybe that's an issue, maybe not.

They're also going to be rather heavy. (A sideways door can be made so that all the weight is carried by the hinges, so that you only need to overcome inertia. This can work with truly massive doors, like The Black Gate of Mordor. With a door that swings up, you either have to lift the door yourself or design additional mechanisms to offset the weight (e.g. the springs attached to garage doors).

Alternatively, you can make them taller and add a counterweight on top.

Clothes: They can't be dresses or skirts, since, even if they have an extra sleeve for the tail, some taboo parts of the body would show if they lifted their tail too high, or used it to have a good grip on a tree branch.

Why not? If the base of the tail is sleeved, it will be difficult to see what's under the tail, especially if the sleeve is snug. Another option is to have a cord that is tied around the base of the tail to keep the clothing snug against it, sort of like a crupper.

Answer 3

One day you may find your soulmate. And you will wish to share a bed with that person. Very probably that person will want you to spoon with them, and at times you will be the big spoon. And when that happens you'd better be healthy and free of circulatory problems, for you will be in for the kinda of suffering your hominids would suffer on a human bed.

Even if you don't spoon, simply using your own arm as a pillow should show you the amount of discomfort your creatures are in for. Spoiler alert - we live just as uncomfortably as they would. We try to circumvent it with bizarre inventions. Google "bed with hole for arm" and see.

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For sitting, your creatures would probably use things similar to the bi chair - the chair for people who can't sit straight. When you stop laughing, google it and see that the thing is real. This would provide them with ways to sit without pressing on their tail. Also I need one of those.

Alternatively, they could go full ancient roman and just do things while lying down. Seriously. They ate while lying down because they thought eating with a vertical stance was bad for the stomach. Here's the wiki for the roman triclinium, and here's an image I found in Google Images when searching for it:

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Finally, to operate vehicles, rather than a seat as we humans are used to they might be more like stools, or there might be some hole for the tail.

See the picture below, this is a chair from our real world. We humans use that hole to drop a coin into an unsuspecting friend's coin slot, but your tailed humanoids could use it for comfort rather than practical jokes.

Answer 4

I just copy pasted my answer from What would a chair for a Human with a Tail look like? and How would a race of humanoids with tails design [vehicle] seats?

Because it seems like it can be applied here.

It's based on Dragon ball chair design for the Saiyan race.

I don't know the original artist's name though; found it on Pinterest.

So in the design it has a slit in the middle back (the one in the image is small but you can use bigger chair anyway) and there's also a combination of a reverse toilet hole too (basically extend the slit to become a toilet hole, to accommodate different tail types/angles to be able to just sit straight or not sit awkwardly or without contorting the tail or ass first while not hindering or hurting their tail when sitting).

And you can increase the hole gap if you want more tail movement.

For visual image of the reverse toilet hole, don't take it literally, and combine it with the slit design — basically extend the slit to there.

From: https://www.amazon.com/slp/chair-support-for-lower-back-pain/9uunpf37wnxx3r3

From: https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/hospital-toilet-chair-15480843597.html

for bed a kin to this bamboo bed, if you want them to sleep face up?(not sure the english term for usual sleep posture) this i can guarantee because i have pet monkey and its a kin to this kind of bed or hanging platform for them to sleep so their tail can slip through the gap.

from:https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/bamboo-beds-19955361330.html

for clothing create a buttoned hole (if its primitive technology, you can use bone or wood as button) or zipper in the rear.

i cant think of a door design but i dont think its really a problem as long they are being careful and not close it when they still expose their rear to the door, outside of turning their tail into a belt like saiyan do to shortening it.

Answer 5

My cats with their tails are pretty much comfortable on our ordinary human variety bed. They refuse to sleep anywhere else if the bed is at all available. Dogs, donkeys, monkeys, etc... do the same, when allowed.

At least beds may be the same.

Doors: soft "lips" or hairy seals if wind-proofing is at all needed. Else, the door just narrow enough to leave a gap for a dangling tail when closed. Locking can be done w/ locking rods up, down and across the gap.

Answer 6

Doors would roll up, be counter-weighted with the knob or handle at the center bottom. Reach out between your legs with your tail as you approached the door, flip it up, go through, close door without breaking stride. Smooth.