From 3-D Scans to Design Tools

Many products are designed for human use and need to fit the human body shape. However, current CAD tools are focused on the object to be designed and have little capability of accessing human shape information. 3-D anthropometry – an emerging field – leverages the recent advances in 3-D imaging technology, providing new opportunities for designers to access accurate, complete, and detailed human shape information. However, the 3-D scan data are drastically different from the traditional anthropometric data, which are linear 1-D measurements. New geometry processing and statistical techniques have to be developed in order to make the 3-D data usable. In this paper, we describe these tools and techniques and their potential use in augmenting or integrating 3-D anthropometric data with existing CAD tools. In particular, we discuss three types of tools: 1. Data exploration tools – visualizing the space of human shape and helping understand shape variability; 2. Shape generation tools – bridging the traditional data and the 3-D data; and 3. Sizing tools – helping design sizing systems that optimally accommodate populations.