Development of an Individual Actual Torso Based on Volume Processing with Application to Tight-Fitting Clothing Design

Abstract

This article is a follow-up to “3D Distance Field-Based Apparel Modeling”, which was published in IIEEJ Transactions on Image Electronics and Visual Computing. In the previous study reported in the paper, a virtual torso was generated by first left-right symmetrizing and smoothing a volumetrically represented human body model. Next, thresholding was applied to the 3D distance field derived from the volume model to develop clothing with a finely calculated spaciousness for women’s and men’s body prototypes and men’s vests. In this article, we show that an extension to the processing flow proposed in the previous paper allows an individualized actual torso that is sufficiently close to that of the human body to be developed for draping. To begin with, candidate threshold values to yield the same shape as the one data obtained from the 3D scanner were examined. A paired ttest and two-factor analysis of variance conducted using the 3D measurement data of 20 participants in the evaluation experiment indicated that the isosurface with a threshold of 0.4 from the volume datasets (0: outside the body, 1: inside the body) is the closest to the scanned human body shapes. Next, in order to enable the draping of closely fitted garments of various designs, the isosurface data with the threshold of 0.4 was 3D printed using Styrofoam cut to develop an individualized actual torso. Finally, using the obtained individualized actual torso, a close-fitting garment was created through draping, and its fit to the body shape was confirmed through trial fitting evaluations.