Page 201 - Anthropometry, Apparel Sizing and Design

194 Anthropometry, Apparel Sizing and Design

In the presented “functional measurements” project, for the first time, body mea-
surements were also scientifically analyzed with respect to movement and derived
from a larger sample. There are tables available for the clothing industry that describe
the average changes in body size in movement, related to clothing size, and that are a
valuable complement to the standard size tables. However, the research has revealed
many other challenges, such as the reproducibility of the different positions, the repro-
ducibility of the landmarks and measurements on the body, the limitations of the 3-D
body scanner used in the analysis of the functional measurements, and the signifi-
cantly greater processing effort compared to standard sizing surveys. Future works
should aim to examine these aspects in a more detailed manner.
Thus the development of clothing products with high wearing comfort can be sig-
nificantly supported. But the challenge, in addition to recording the kinematic stan-
dards of people, is their implementation in the clothing product. The change in the
body surface and the change in length of the extremities must be able to be reproduced
by the textile, for example, in the buttock area. Especially in functional clothing the
material and the implementation of the ROM in the pattern present a particular chal-
lenge. There the required extra length must be provided in such a way that the wearer
of the clothing product can bend, kneel, or sit optimally. All the layers of a product
must be designed flexibly enough that the movement can be compensated for by either
constructive ease, stretch, or special clothing elements. Therefore value-based mate-
rial recommendations are to be considered mandatory for the development of the pat-
tern. For this purpose the textile materials must be tested for their flexibility and/or
elasticity and correlated with the functional measurements.
In the development process, 3-D scanners can be a further foundation for the opti-
mization of products. If these are used for fit analysis, the virtual three-dimensional
representation will allow for individual adjustments of the view by rotation or zoom.
In addition, it is possible not only to view scans side by side but also to place them
inside one another, whereby a direct comparison can be implemented, for example,
of the unclothed body with the clothed body. Three-dimensional software can be used
to identify and quantify compacted or bridged areas. Mobility restrictions can also be
clearly identified by supplementing the fit analyses with application of typical posi-
tions. The restriction of ranges of movement through clothing can be impressively
visualized using 3-D scanner technology and also quantified using appropriate survey-
ing software. Here, too, there is still a great need for research, since so far only a few
studies have been carried out. There are still missing some basic methods that allow
the subjects to occupy an identical position with and without clothing. The presented
research shows first approaches that need to be continued.
The recording of the human body in static positions with 3-D body scanners has its
limitations. Dynamic movements are only recreated. This means that the subjects have
to tighten muscle groups, which are not needed for just holding static positions, a
requirement that can be met only by a few and sometimes not at all. In addition, it
can be assumed that the expression of the musculature in the static position differs
from that of dynamic movements. The technical development from 3-D to 4-D scan-
ning systems could be a medium term answer to this problem. Although only moderate
movement speeds are currently recordable, the further development of hardware and