3D Hand Measuring with a Mobile Scanning System

Abstract

Gloves are an important part of personal protection equipment (PPE). Function in terms of adequate thermo physiological comfort and protection is only given with perfect fit. Little is known about hand dimensions in Germany and other countries. Currently available measurement tables do not contain all relevant information necessary to design gloves. Hands are usually measured with a tape measure. Glove development is very traditional and mostly based on empirical data. 3D-scanning-technology would provide an innovative approach for the optimization of gloves in consideration of fit, functionality and design. 3D scanning systems for the whole body, however, are not accurate enough to achieve required detailed information for collecting hand data. They provide not enough data points and critical gaps within the point clouds. Therefore, to collect three dimensional hand data specific scanning systems are required. The aim of a pilot study at the Hohenstein Institute was to develop a feasible acquisition setting as a basis for a hand sizing project. For data collection the Creaform Ergo Handyscan and TechMed MSoft measurement software were used. The system fulfils requirements about flexibility, data density and accuracy for the aimed purpose. A preliminary test showed that the existing positioning point world (Maid) did not lead to a natural forearm positioning. As a result, semi-automatic measurement software was not able to detect precise data. Thus, acquisition setting was modified and economized. 200 men's hands were scanned to verify acquisitioning process and data quality. 53 hand measurements were taken. A 3D virtual model representing particular glove size was generated on the basis of these results. In another part of the project the usage of the scanning system to extract information about the fit and comfort of gloves by comparing the 3D data of the hand with and without gloves was tested. The results provide a very accurate and objective determination of fit and comfort. As a further step, a comprehensive research project is needed to validate these findings, and to revise the accuracy of existing measurement tables. Then, 3D virtual and physical hand models representing each glove size can be developed.

Visual Analysis within 3D Hand Scanning to Ensure the Reliability and Precision of Anthropometric Data Collection

“…The use of three-dimensional (3D) scanning has become an increasingly viable method for capturing anthropometric data of the hand. A wide variety of 3D scanners have been validated for or have previously been used to collect anthropometric data from the hand [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. However, during the 3D scanning process, any involuntary movements or posture changes can lead to distortion in the 3D scans gathered and could create errors within the data produced.…”

Make It Easy: Reliability of Automatic Measurement for 3D Hand Scanning

“…Hand anthropometry data is integrated into many large scale anthropometric studies such as ANSUR, however most hand measurements contained within these datasets are 1-D (linear) and the datasets contain very few measurements overall [1], [2]. The lack of hand measurements and measurement types limits the ability to conduct research on hand size and understand the hand in relation to products such as gloves and tools [3]. 3D hand data offers researchers and designers the opportunity to build body/product knowledge and the 3D data itself is reusable.…”

3D Scanning for Hand Orthotic Applications: A Comparative Assessment between Static and Real-Time Solutions

“…Customization could be interesting also for other types of application, which are mentioned here even if they were not the main guiding factors of the present work. Anthropometric measuring, to build or complete a dataset that can be useful, for example, for gloves industry [4], is one of the possible final goal of a reverse engineering procedure. The availability of digital 3D anatomy is very interesting to avoid measurement directly on the hand of the subject with meters and goniometers, reducing discomfort.…”