method
Turning scans and images into models that describe how bodies vary.
55 posts
2026-09
The initial overview journal article from YouthShape.US has been published. We are proud to be wrapping up the largest and most comprehensive…
Design of Consumer Products including Wearables 3D surface scanning Anthropometric Surveys and Population Data+1
2026-05
I gave a brief presentation to auto industry colleagues at a meeting of the semi-annual Seat Comfort Tech Club. This informal group of researchers and…
Passenger cars and light trucks Seating Statistical shape models+3
2026-03
Our first journal article based on the YouthShape.US anthropometry study has appeared! We are delighted that this outstanding work led by our post-doc…
Footwear Statistical shape models Survey design and data collection+5
2026-02
We are excited to publicly launch HumanShape.app, a radical new approach to anthropometric analysis for design. The field of applied anthropometry is…
Head- and face-worn devices Ear and hearing devices Footwear+9
2026-01
We continue to make rapid progress on YouthShape.US, the first large-scale, publicly accessible anthropometric survey of U.S. children since the…
Statistical shape models Survey design and data collection Sampling, weighting, and synthesis+4
2025-11
At the SAFE Symposium this month I presented an overview of some of our head/face related research. The current focus of the effort is the development…
Head- and face-worn devices Statistical shape models Medical imaging and skeletal geometry+1
2025-08
Our journal publication on the first iteration of our U.S. adult ear model appeared in International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics. This is the…
Ear and hearing devices Design of Consumer Products including Wearables Medical imaging and skeletal geometry+2
2025-07
We're proud of the work we're doing with Gentex and the U.S. Navy supporting the development of new oxygen masks for U.S. and NATO fighter pilots.…
Head- and face-worn devices Statistical shape models Medical imaging and skeletal geometry+1
2024-08
We continue to make progress on many areas of our research, including our YouthShape anthropometry survey of children ages 3-17 years (now over 550…
Head- and face-worn devices Medical imaging and skeletal geometry Survey design and data collection+3
2024-03
Our colleagues at SENTIR Research Labs in Dayton hosted the inaugural Biomechanics and Engineering Anthropometry Meeting (BEAM) this month. This…
Head- and face-worn devices Ear and hearing devices Medical imaging and skeletal geometry+2
2024-01
At the SAE Government/Industry meeting this month I had the opportunity to give an overview of our occupant anthropometry research, including a…
Ear and hearing devices Medical imaging and skeletal geometry Survey design and data collection+6
2023-06
We have been exceptionally busy even by our normally crazy standards. But we're fortunate to be able to do studies that will have major impact in…
Heavy trucks and buses Ear and hearing devices Chairs and furniture+5
2023-01
A few updates on some of many projects my colleagues and I are currently working on: Female Body Armor Fit We're wrapping up a study for the U.S. Army…
Ear and hearing devices Military vehicles 3D surface scanning+2
2021-10
Our 3D anthropometry team, including my colleages Dr. Daniel Park andDr. Monica Jones, have published the first whole-body parametric human body model…
Vehicle Interior Design Occupant protection ATD design and evaluation+4
2021-09
Erik Brynskog, a PhD student at Chalmers University in Sweden, has just published what is currently the best-available statistical model of pevis…
Occupant protection Injury risk and tolerance Statistical shape models+1
2020-09
My colleague Dr. Daniel Park has just published a new head/face surface model that is one of only two we are aware of that includes a realistic scalp…
Head- and face-worn devices 3D surface scanning Statistical shape models+6
2019-01
We have many activities underway related to increasingly automated vehicles. Here's an overview of some of the projects. Occupant Postures, Seating…
Occupant protection Passenger cars and light trucks Seating+9
2018-10
Our group presented three papers at the triennial International Ergonomics Association conference in Florence. Dr. Monica Jones presented preliminary…
2018-08
I recently completed a small study for General Motors examining the distribution of knee contours. The possibility of inadvertent activation of…
Vehicle Interior Design 3D surface scanning Motion capture and landmark digitizing+1
2018-02
We reported on the development of a new physical manikin representing a two-year old child. The primary application for the manikin is the measurement…
Occupant protection 3D surface scanning Statistical shape models+2
2017-12
Designing vehicles to be used in multiple markets is challenging in part due to differences in the body sizes across nations. Yet, little research has…
Injury Prevention and Safety in Dynamic Events Occupant protection 3D surface scanning+4
2017-11
Our group was well represented at the annual European meeting of theInternational Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury. We presented two…
Occupant protection Injury risk and tolerance Statistical shape models+7
2017-10
I attended the annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine in Las Vegas, NV this month. I presented a paper comparing…
Occupant protection ATD design and evaluation 3D surface scanning+2
2017-10
I attended the annual conference of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society in Austin, TX this month.Justin Haney, a PhD student working with advisor…
Design of Consumer Products including Wearables Virtual fit testing Body Shape Measurement and Modeling+1
2017-07
My colleagues Dr. Monica Jones and Dr. Daniel Park represented our group at the International Digital Human Modeling Symposium in Bonn, Germany this…
Occupant protection Statistical shape models Digital human models and manikins+2
2017-07
The cervical spine is of considerable interest in biomechanics research due to its complexity and its importance as a site of both low-severity and…
Injury risk and tolerance Medical imaging and skeletal geometry Public datasets and dissemination
2017-07
My colleague Dr. Daniel Park and I recently completed a research project for the U.S. Army that tackled an array of cutting-edge problems relating to…
Design of Consumer Products including Wearables Statistical shape models Virtual fit testing+2
2017-06
A new paper on our work modeling child body shape has appeared in Traffic Injury Prevention. My colleague Dr. Daniel Park led the development of the…
2017-04
The Biosciences Group was well represented at the SAE Congress this month. My colleagues presented three papers on a range of topics. Jones, M.L.H.…
Occupant protection Passenger cars and light trucks Seating+5
2017-01
A broad collaboration at U-M several years in the making has produced an innovative tool for visual assessment of child body shape. The lead…
3D surface scanning Statistical shape models Design and analysis tools+3
2016-11
I gave two presentations at the NHTSA-hosted biomechanics workshop preceding the Stapp Car Crash Conference. Developing Anthropometric Targets for…
ATD design and evaluation Statistical shape models Motion capture and landmark digitizing+3
2016-06
I joined my UMTRI colleagues Dr. Monica Jones and Dr. Daniel Park at the Digital Human Modeling Conference in Montreal. Our hosts at ÉTS did a…
Occupant protection 3D surface scanning Statistical shape models+6
2016-04
The Biosciences Group had a big presence at the SAE Congress in Detroit this month. We presented research on a broad range of topics from seat shape…
Occupant protection Heavy trucks and buses Military vehicles+9
2016-03
Thanks to the great work of my colleague Dr. Daniel Park, we have launched a beta version of our new web portal, HumanShape.org. HumanShape will…
Statistical shape models Design and analysis tools Public datasets and dissemination+1
2016-02
Anthropometric data on children are scarce, and anthropometric data on toddlers and infants are even more rare. My colleagues and I just wrapped up a…
Occupant protection 3D surface scanning Statistical shape models+3
2015-08
My colleagues Dr. Daniel Park and Dr. Jangwoon Park presented some recent work at the Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE) annual meeting in…
Statistical shape models Digital human models and manikins High BMI and obesity
2015-05
Daniel Park and I have just published the first parametric body shape model for children. The model is based on laser scans of 137 children ages 3-11…
3D surface scanning Statistical shape models Public datasets and dissemination+3
2014-12
The final report for the Seated Soldier Study conducted by UMTRI for the US Army TARDEC is now available. The report describes the methods and results…
ATD design and evaluation Military vehicles 3D surface scanning+3
2014-10
Building on recent work on body shape modeling and using Kinect as a body scanner, I presented a paper at the 2014 HFES conference in Chicago on work…
3D surface scanning Statistical shape models Digital human models and manikins
2014-09
I presented an update of our virtual seat fit assessment work at the 8th Annual Automotive Seating Innovators Summit in Detroit. This collaboration…
Statistical shape models Sampling, weighting, and synthesis Virtual fit testing+1
2014-05
The UMTRI Biosciences Group was featured in an article in Mechanical Engineering, the monthly magazine of ASME. The work of my colleague Dr. Jingwen…
Occupant protection 3D surface scanning Statistical shape models+1
2014-05
My colleague Daniel Park presented a paper at the 3rd International Digital Human Modeling Symposium on our work with using Kinect sensors for body…
3D surface scanning Statistical shape models Digital human models and manikins+2
2014-05
Prof. Matt Parkinson of The Pennsylvania State University presented some joint work on human modeling at the 3rd International Digital Human Modeling…
2014-05
Locating body surface landmarks on whole-body scan data is usually a time-consuming manual process. Manual digitizing is the "gold standard"…
3D surface scanning Statistical shape models Motion capture and landmark digitizing+1
2014-05
My colleagues Dr. Monica Jones and Dr. Daniel Park participated in the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society annual meeting in Washington, DC this…
Statistical shape models Virtual fit testing High BMI and obesity
2014-05
I gave a brief presentation at the Midwest meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics this month. Held at Grand Valley State University in…
Statistical shape models Parametric finite-element human body models Virtual fit testing
2014-01
I gave a briefing at the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center this month on our Seated Soldier Study. In close…
Military vehicles 3D surface scanning Army and ground forces
2013-11
I presented a short communication at the IRCOBI annual conference in Lyon, France. A substantial part of our current research focuses on measuring and…
Occupant protection 3D surface scanning High BMI and obesity
2013-04
My colleague Jingwen Hu developed a new framework for conducting virtual seat fit testing using a parametric human body model. This work differs from…
Seating Statistical shape models Parametric finite-element human body models+2
2012-11
At the 2012 Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting in Boston, I presented an overview of the methods for our recent large-scale child…
Occupant protection 3D surface scanning Anthropometric Surveys and Population Data+1
2012-09
Wired Autopia covered some of our recent work on body shape modeling. We're using a range of technologies to measure posture and body shape in…
Occupant protection Statistical shape models Automotive industry
2012-09
Presentation from a special session at the Stapp Car Crash Conference in Savannah, Georgia. Recent research, including studies by my colleagues at…
Occupant protection Injury risk and tolerance 3D surface scanning+2
2011-07
We are conducting a major study of child posture and body shape. This is the first study to gather three-dimensional data on child posture in…
Occupant protection Passenger cars and light trucks 3D surface scanning+1
2011-03
Three-dimensional anthropometry is a part of many of my current research projects. Using data from UMTRI's whole-body laser scanner, medical imaging…
Chairs and furniture ATD design and evaluation 3D surface scanning+2
2008-01
The performance of belt-positioning booster seats used by children who are too small to achieve good belt fit with vehicle belts alone, and no longer…
Occupant protection ATD design and evaluation Medical imaging and skeletal geometry+1
Nothing matches that combination.