Page 33 - Anthropometry, Apparel Sizing and Design

P. 33

Anthropometric methods for 2

apparel design: Body
measurement devices and

techniques

M. Kouchi
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tokyo, Japan

2.1 Introduction

Anthropometric methods are intended to ensure the comparability of measurements
obtained by different measurers and repeated measurements by the same measurer.
For this purpose, postures for measurement, points on the body used to define mea-
surements (known as landmarks), instruments, measurement procedure, and measure-
ment attire are standardized. Anthropometry started in the field of anthropology and
dates back >100years. In traditional anthropometric methods, human measurers
decide the landmark locations and take measurements manually using traditional tools
such as calipers and a tape measure. These instruments are not very expensive, but
such traditional methods require time to complete the measurements for each person
and are prone to error.
In recent decades, noncontact human body measuring systems (hereafter, three-
dimensional (3-D) body scanners) have been available and used in sizing surveys.
Using 3-D body scanners, the 3-D body surface shape and landmark locations can
be obtained, and one-dimensional (1-D) measurements can be calculated from these
data. Body scanners are much more expensive than traditional tools, but more people
can be measured in a limited time compared with the traditional methods. It may
require time after the scan, and scan-derived 1-D measurements are not always com-
parable with those obtained by traditional methods.
Fig. 2.1 shows a flow diagram of anthropometry. In the traditional methods,
landmarking and measurement are conducted by measurer(s). In 3-D anthropometry,
landmarking must still be done by a measurer (3-D anthropometry 1), or landmark
locations can be calculated from body surface data (3-D anthropometry 2).
Landmarking is the most important process for ensuring that anatomical locations cor-
respond between subjects and defining body dimensions and homologous body
models.
The anthropometry method used depends on the purpose of the measurement. Spe-
cifically the chosen method will depend on which type(s) of data are required (1-D
measurements, 3-D landmark locations, or 3-D surface shape) and how these obtained

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