SAFE Symposium: Oxygen Masks using 3D Anthro

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 of new contours for oxygen masks used by military jet pilots in the U.S. and other countries. The work is novel in several important ways. First, we started with the UMTRI head model, a high-resolution statistical shape model based on data from over 600 individuals. This model is based primarily on medical imaging data and hence has an accurate scalp, unlike nearly all other head databases and models. Second, we used the UMTRI model to create an aircrew-specific statistical shape model, fitting over 900 high-resolution scans from the U.S. Navy's 2024 aircrew anthropometry survey. Third, we devised a new approach to using 3D anthropometric data for design applications. This new approach has broad applicability to human-centered design, making the use of population-level 3D data much more tractable.