Title: Realistic and representative humanoids for virtual prototyping

Authors: George-Alexander Kartsounis, Florendia Fourli-Kartsouni, Michael Roukounakis, Nicolas Alvertos

Addresses: Science Department, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, Athens 11855, Greece. ' Athens Technology Center S.A., Rizariou Street 10, Halandri, Athens 15233, Greece. ' Bulb Limited, El. Venizelou 156, Kallithea, Athens 17675, Greece. ' Science Department, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, Athens 11855, Greece

Abstract: Within the framework of recent advances in Three-Dimensional Virtual Prototyping (3DVP) in the clothing industry, a methodology for unsupervised classification of human bodies is developed. The aim is to identify virtual mannequins representative of subsets of a population, from given sets of Three-Dimensional (3D) scan data, accompanied by derived sets of body measurements. Applying interpolation techniques, humanoids ready to be virtually dressed and animated, can then be derived for each representative body. The classification tool will be integrated into a platform for e-collaboration, enabling designers and other actors to visualise new creations on virtual mannequins representative of the body shape variations inherent in an anthropometric database. Although the selected human body shape representation was as minimal as possible, through the application of multivariate analysis, the clustering results reflect meaningful body shape variations.

Keywords: three-dimensional virtual prototyping; 3DVP; garment design; ergonomics; somatotyping; anthropometry; human body classification; 3D body scan data; clustering techniques; principal components analysis; PCA; virtual reality; humanoids; clothing industry; apparel industry; garment industry; virtual mannequins; collaboration; shape representation; body shape variations; avatars; virtual humans.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLM.2006.009385

International Journal of Product Lifecycle Management, 2006 Vol.1 No.3, pp.268 - 288

Published online: 28 Mar 2006 *

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