The myths of measurements from 3D
Body measurement has always played an important part in the apparel industry for pattern making and size determination. Until now, manual measurements have been the standard in the fashion industry. However, this method tends to be limited when it comes to measurement repeatability, accuracy, and consistency across different personnel.
What’s the limitation for manual measurements?
Many errors and differences can result from the measurer’s skills and judgements. As well as this, different postures in the person being measured, compressed soft tissue from the measuring tape and fatigue in both the person being measured and the measurer resulting from this time-consuming measuring process will affect the outcome. The effect of COVID-19 also makes manual measurements more difficult due to sanitary issues.
The popularity of 3D body scanning
In recent years, the popularity of three-dimensional (3D) body scans has soared. They are instrumental in several different markets, such as custom made & bespoke apparel, fitness & wellness, footwear, and virtual reality, to mention a few. Increasingly, these sectors are demanding pinpoint, repeatable accuracy in the results given.
3D body scans are not affected by subjective factors, are non-contact, and results are reproducible. They also take seconds to complete, so there is no time for the subject to get tired.
However, there are still a lot of trust issues regarding the result difference between manual measurements and 3D body scanning. We have a lot of feedback from our clients asking why our results are not the same as their tape measurements results? How can we use the data from 3D body scanning to garment sizes?
We understand those issues and concerns and will be explaining the details in the following paragraphs. However, we believe that 3D body scanning is not intended to replace traditional measurement methods, but to provide a comprehensive set of repeatable measurement tools to reduce the time for customers coming back and forth for measurements.
First, we need to understand how a 3D body scanner measures the body.
Below are two photos of the results from Scanatic™ 360 Body Scanner.
Take the bust measurement as an example, the algorithm of the 3D body scanner will automatically find the most protruding elevation for the chest, pull a line around that is horizontal to the floor and simulate the physical effect of a measuring tape — forming a straight line when the body surface curves inwards . Please see the reference photos below.
The distinguishing part of the 3D body measurement method is that the outline of the measurement is next to the body surface, and it is not easy to do this traditionally with a tape measure. Since the human body is soft and elastic, it is quite difficult to apply a tape measure to the human body without pressing on the muscles and skin.
Another important part of 3D body measurement is the horizontal outline. In the digital world, it is easy to find the horizontal plane parallel to the ground, but in reality there is no way to accurately position the tape measure perfectly horizontal.
How big is the difference between manual measurements and 3D body scanning?
To help people understand the difference between manual measurements and 3D body scanning more, we have also done relevant experiments to prove the complexity and variability of the human body. The experimental procedure is as follows:
The subject had stickers placed on on the bust → enters the scanning room → pose in the scanning posture → scan
Learn more about the experiment results and how to utilize the 3D measurement results at https://www.tg3ds.com/blog/the-myths-of-measurements-from-3d
