Most Korean apparel companies lack suitable dress forms for the different body types of middle-aged Korean women, resulting in poor clothing fit for them. As a part of an ongoing project to develop a dress form that fully reflects Korean middle-aged women’s bodies, this study classified the body shapes and examined the anthropometric characteristics of women in their 40s and 50s. The 3D anthropometric data of 302 middle-aged women of normal weight (18.5 ≤ BMI < 25) were obtained from the 6th Size Korea. Sixty-three measurements related to the construction of dress form were chosen. Based on the scores from five factors, the body shapes of Korean middle-aged women were classified into four types: Type 1 had a broader shoulder and a slightly developed upper body but a more developed lower body; Type 2 had a longer, relatively thin and flat, vertical body; Type 3 had a shorter body and smaller torso than the other types, and the lower body was more developed than the upper; Type 4 had a bulky upper body and the highest BMI, but the lower body was rather small. The nine key measurements in classifying the body shapes of Korean middle-aged women were found by discriminant analysis. The characteristics of representative body shapes obtained in this study can be useful for developing dress forms for clothing that better fits Korean middle-aged women.
This research aimed to evaluate the usability of three alternative protective face mask designs from the clinical perspective. In a remote study, dental students (n=38) with experience wearing N95 FFRs participated in a randomized wear trial with simulated activities to measure mask performance. A Likertscale survey instrument was developed to examine conditions of discomfort, fit stability, wear efficiency, and speech intelligibility. Survey results indicated the KN95 mask demonstrated the highest overall mask usability, followed by MNmask v2, and MNmask v1. While participants found MNmask v1 uncomfortable, the stability was rated highest during a head up and down activity ( M=3.54). Here, the KN95 mask had a lower rating ( M=3.36), revealing potential issues with a loose fit. MNmask v2 showed overall improvement from MNmask v1, but revealed complications with the paracord bands. The findings from this study may be applied broadly in improving mask performance and usability in protective face mask designs.
At the beginning of the pandemic, a critical component of a successful N95 respirator alternative product in the United States was the ability to circumvent traditional avenues of sourcing and manufacturing. The purpose of this research was to develop and test an alternative facemask design to combat shortages of N95 facemasks by creating a design that can be produced locally with low specialization of materials and process. Through an interdisciplinary network of experts, a new mask design that uses repurposed air filtration media and commercially available components was developed and tested for filtration and fit against current N95 standards. Manufacturing viability was tested using a small unskilled workforce (n=10-20) to create 6000 masks over 10 days. The ability to quickly produce masks at scale using an unskilled workforce demonstrates the feasibility of the mask design and manufacturing approach to address shortages of critical healthcare equipment, mitigate risk for healthcare and essential workers, and minimize the transmission and spread of disease.
In 1952, Gilbert S. Daniels published his seminal report “The ’Average Man’?” which examined the measurements of 4,063 active United States Air Force personnel (Daniels. 1952). This report detailed a profound yet simple finding: that after eliminating for ten common anthropometric measurements, no one person meets the average for all body dimensions. We analyzed Two anthropometric data bases over two studies, following an updated version of Daniels’ (1952) original method. The biggest changes were not eliminating the top and bottom percentiles of the population, and adjusted the calculation to find middle 25-30%. The databases examined were ANSUR II (Gorden et al., 2014) and CAESAR (Robinette et al., 2002), to see how civilian and military populations compare. The results of both studies were generally consistent with Daniels (1952), however we did discover that some individuals were able to meet the criteria for average after ten measurements. The best performance took place in the ANSUR II combined condition, all three individuals were men. This last part is especially important to note, as the combined sample eliminated women out of the sample faster than men. Being eliminated after the sixth measurement. This confirms a potential bias to combining men’s and women’s measurements without great care. Based on our analysis of modern anthropometric databases using Daniels’ original method it is clear that, while we found some “average people”, the significance of its findings holds true. This is not to say we should ignore the average, but we should understand its use in context and strive to go beyond it. Thinking past a formative understanding of how people are shaped, and instead into what is needed to create well-fitting products for a specific population. Examples spanning several industries merely scratch the surface of what needs to be addressed. Looking around as we go through our day, minor and major inconveniences become apparent. They cannot be all fixed at once, but through diligent research and thoughtful design we can use the principles of universal design to our advantage. Looking ahead to the next 70 years, a continued growth in optimizing products for the individual user and helping these users understand why these optimizations matter is not just desirable, but important.
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