Digitizing and measuring of the human body for the clothing industry

Purpose The paper aims to present several methods that were developed, evaluated and finally used as part of a 3D electronic tailor especially adapted to the clothing industry. Design/methodology/approach An experimental top down approach taking care of building a system adapted to the constraints of the textile industry was used. The research was to the rapidity, the robustness and the comfort of the future system during the development cycle. Findings A robust and efficient method for digitizing a human body in 3D that is usable for the measurement process with duration and accuracy adapted to the domain of textile industry. Research limitations/implications The research is bound to many constraints. Some are expressed by the customers of the electronic tailor, some depend on the manufacturing process of the clothes and of course, some depend on economic requirements. Of course, the system is not fixed because it must be adapted and improved to be able to follow the evolution of the manufacturing process. Practical implications This research permitted the creation of a marketed product improved for a few years by successfully measuring thousands of people. Originality/value The paper demonstrates the usefulness of choosing a digitizing process. It shows the importance of keeping in mind the whole digitizing process for making the mesh generation and the measurements taken. The resulting mannequin proves that the process works well.