Body Scanning Session

On Thursday, March 14, the students met in the apparel lab to work with the body scanner, a machine which provides non-contact points of measure, and to talk about the upcoming live fit model sessions. First, the class discussed which measurements they would like for the body scanner to extract and how they will use those measurements. They also tried to determine whether the body scanner can be used to determine if the subjects’ posture was improved by wearing the posture garment. Throughout the discussion, the class kept in mind the protocol outlined in the IRB. 

  

Next the students had the opportunity to work with the body scanner and learn how to use it. They looked at different possible measurements from the body scanner and determined which would be most useful / valuable. They chose from upper-body measurements for the neck, collar, chin, shoulder, arms, chest, and bust. The students also had to determine how to ensure that the measurements are correct (such as with the waist location, as it is not always at the narrowest part of the body).

Lastly, one of the students volunteered to jump into the body scanner and get scanned both wearing and not wearing the product prototype. One problem that was identified was with garments that had black on them, as the machine extracted these areas from the final image. The result was an avatar with long legs and arms and a short torso.  They also worked out kinks with some of the measurements.

Next week, the students will present their second prototypes based on student and faculty suggestions.