Page 151 - Anthropometry, Apparel Sizing and Design

146 Anthropometry, Apparel Sizing and Design

inexpensively, increasing the usefulness of scanning for the apparel industry and
making anthropometric studies less costly and more practical. Issues such as cali-
bration, resolution, scan volume, balance between data capture and reconstruction
of the data, format of the output, format/reliability/validity of the extracted data, and
participant interaction with the technology must be understood to make best use of
scanning systems.

6.2 History of full-body scanning, its use in apparel sizing
and fit, and anthropometric studies

6.2.1 Early scanners

The first full-body scanner that was widely marketed in the late 1990s was made by
Cyberware and was primarily sold to the entertainment industry and military
researchers (Robinette and Whitestone, 1994) (see Fig. 6.1). It used stationary sensors
and an eye-safe laser as a light source and provided a rotating platform for the person
being scanned. The technology was effective, but the scanners were not portable, and
their cost was prohibitive for most users. At this stage, neither the usefulness nor the
specific procedures of scanning appropriate for apparel research or anthropometric
studies were well understood. Cyberware, Inc. was dissolved in 2011.
The next generation of scanners available by the mid-1990s included brands such
as Vitronic/Human Solutions, TC2, Hamamatsu, Telmat, Wicks and Wilson, and
TecMath (Daanen and Jeroen van de Water, 1998). These scanners were costly but
at a level that could be justified for a wider range of research opportunities, and their
usefulness was becoming more apparent. They were still relatively large installations
and were not optimal for scanning in multiple locations, although some systems could

Fig. 6.1 Early Cyberware scanner with a rotating platform (from Flickr user NIOSH).