Abstract
This study aims to develop comfortable and ergonomic pillows that accommodate to anatomical differences between individuals. This report describes our proposed method to measure the shape of the back of head and neck. This study improved the existing head shape measuring instrument. The new instrument enables to digitize the shape data of the back of head and neck. Relative positions between head and trunk were also measured from coordinates of four indicator points in picture, with several standing and supine postures. A difference is clearly found on the shape of the back of head and neck, and on the relative position between individuals. This result suggests that suitable pillow shape will change depending on the mechanical characteristics for each subject.
