Page 160 - Anthropometry, Apparel Sizing and Design

Full body 3-D scanners 155

Fig. 6.7 Images of the anthropometric position and of the most common scan position with
arms and legs abducted from the body. Fingers and thumbs are generally held together or in a
soft fist for scanning as the resolution of the body scanner is not appropriate to capture
individual fingers.

Best practice for getting a good scan of the head is to cover the hair with a close
fitting cap, but of course if the hair is very long or thick then it can distort the shape of
the head even if confined in a cap. This may not be a problem for most apparel studies
for which it is only important to keep the hair away from the neck to get a good scan of
the neck and shoulders. In this case, tying the hair up on the top of the head is the best
solution.
In the past elaborate scan, clothing was deemed to be important to provide a sense
of modesty and to provide consistency among the study subjects. Not only may this
still be important for some populations, but also it may be acceptable, both for the
scanees and the needs of the study, to scan in the study participants’ ordinary under-
wear, only providing scan clothing for subjects whose underwear are unsuitable (many
scanners would not scan black underwear). For apparel studies of women, there are
advantages to scanning in their own most commonly worn bra, as this will provide
a more valid breast shape for clothing than the more relaxed sports bras that have com-
monly been used in scan studies (Pei et al., 2019).