Introduction
What is Anthropometry?
Anthropometry simply means "measurement of
people". The word Anthropometry is derived from the
Greek ‘anthros’ meaning man, and ‘metron’ meaning
measure.
More formally it is the study of the size, shape and
strength of the human body.
Including, mass, volumes, mobility, proportions, centers of
gravity, and inertial properties of the whole body and body
segments.
Anthropometrics is the practice of anthropometry and
involves the collection, analysis and application of
anthropometric data.
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Con..
Anthropometry is the science of measuring the human
body as to height, weight, and size of component parts,
including skin fold thickness, to study and compare the
relative proportions under normal/abnormal conditions
and for the purposes of understanding human physical
variation.
Anthropometry is the science that measures the range
of body sizes in a population. When designing products
it is important to remember that people come in many
sizes and shapes.
Anthropometric data varies considerably between
regional populations.
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Why is anthropometry important?
When you buy clothes, you expect to go to a shop and find
something that more or less fits you. Somehow the
manufacturer has found out what size you are and then made
something suitable for you.
However, if you are an 'unusual' size, either very tall or
short, or heavy or thin, then you will probably have
difficulty finding something to fit you. You may even have
to find some specialist shop that caters for people of unusual
size.
This happens of course because it is generally uneconomic
for a manufacturer to produce items for the relatively few
people who want some unusual sizes. But how does the
manufacturer know what sizes to produce?
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Con…
If the manufacturer is American and decides to market the
clothes in Japan then business may not be too good if the
same range of sizes are marketed there.
Japanese people are generally smaller than Americans and
what about body proportions? Suppose a Japanese man
has the same stature as an American man, does he have
proportionately shorter or longer arms and legs and what
about his overall body shape?
Do Japanese men have the same necks and waists as
American men of the same height or weight? The
problems for the clothes manufacturer are fairly obvious.
None of us buy clothes that don't fit.
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The problem
The consequences of not fitting things to the user can
range from minor inconvenience, like shirts that don't
quite fit, to serious injury or death, like when a driver
cannot properly reach the controls of a vehicle or
cannot see enough of the space around the vehicle to
drive safely under all conditions.
A good match between design and user should improve
efficiency, safety, health and comfort; make things
easier to use and; improve the quality of our lives.
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Types of Anthropometry
There are two types of anthropometry measurements
i. Structural anthropometry( “static anthropometry”)
Measurement of the body at rest including overall
measurements like:
Total stature(height) and weight,
Measurements of links in our body,
Circumference of head
Measurement of specific landmarks in reference to
some other point, like the floor, e.g, eye height.
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Static measurements
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ii. Functional anthropometry:( “dynamic anthropometry”)
• Measurement of the body in motion like the reach envelope
of seated work, the movement of body parts in relationship to
one another or the space required to turn a wheelchair.
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The most important human engineering dimensions
1. Height
2. Weight
3. Sitting height
4. Buttock-knee length
5. Buttock-popliteal length
6. Breadth across elbows
7. Breadth across hips (seated)
8. Knee height
9. Popliteal height
10. Thigh clearance height
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Purpose of measuring anthropometric measurements
Stature (height): This is used to determine the minimum overhead
clearance required to avoid head collision.
Functional overhead reach: This is used to determine the maximum
height of overhead controls.
Functional foreword reach: Items that are often used within the
workstation should be located with in the functional reach.
Buttock-knee-depth: This defines the seat depth for chairs and
clearance under the work table
Popliteal height: This is used to determine the range of adjustability
for adjustable chairs.
Buttock –popliteal depth: This is used to determine the length of the
seat pad.
Elbow height: This is an important marker for determining work
height and table height.
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Anthropometric design principles
There are three general anthropometric design
principles useful in the design of workspaces. Each
design principle is described with its advantages and
disadvantages.
1. Design for Average:
With the design for average principle, you design a
workspace for the average-sized person or a one-size-fit
all approach.
This is a commonly used approach by designers without
knowledge of population variability and is generally not
recommended.
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2. Design for Extreme:
The design for extreme principle is very useful in
specific circumstances when it make sense to design a
dimension at an extreme end of the distribution and,
because of its function, the entire distribution is
accommodated.
Here are a few examples:
Doorways, escape apparatus, ladders, etc are
designed so that extremely tall males and extremely
broad people can fit through it. Both these
dimensions exceed the 99th percentile for height and
body breadth.
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3. Design for Range:
Designing for the range normally means designing
an adjustable workspace.
For example, the standing workstation for light
assembly,
an adjustable-height workstation might be
designed to accommodate elbow heights
ranging from the 5th percentile female to the
95th percentile male. Now the potential
shoulder, neck, and low back discomfort
may have been eliminated.
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Percentile Humans
Anthropometric dimensions for each population are ranked
by size and described as percentiles. It is common practice
to design for the 5th percentile (5th%) female to the 95th
percentile (95th%) male.
The 5th% female value for a particular dimension (e.g.
sitting height) usually represents the smallest measurement
for design in a population.
Conversely, a 95th% male value may represent the largest
dimension for which one is designing.
The 5th% to 95th% range accommodates approximately
90% of the population.
To design for a larger portion of the population, one might
use the range from the 1st% female to the 99th% male.
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Con…
The figure below shows comparisons of percentile
males and females.
Fig: The relative sizes of different percentile humans.
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Common Workplace Postures
There are common postures found in working environment that
can be considered when designing workplace products or space.
This section reviews guidelines for these postures:
1. Standing
2. Sitting
3. Reaching
4. Moving
1. Standing
Some users may need or want to stand while at their
workstations. If this is the case, an appropriate desk can be
designed and selected for the type of work being performed.
Desk height for a standing operator can range depending on
whether the desk is for precision, light, or heavy work
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2. Sitting
Knowing what parameters to design for while the user is seated
can help increase the comfort of the user. Common seated
anthropometric measurements can be seen in Figure below.
A- Sitting Height
B- Sitting Eye Height
C- Waist Depth
D- Thigh Clearance
E- Buttock-to-Knee
F- Knee Height
G- Seat Length/Depth
H- Popliteal Height
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3. Reaching
While sitting or standing, an individual at work will usually have to reach for
something.
The workstation, and parts that go with workstations (such as overhead
storage and pedestals), should allow the majority of movement of the user’s
body joints within healthy zones.
When designing products, consider how much individuals will have to reach
in order to minimize awkward or unhealthy positions.
4. Moving
Users will move around in their environment to file papers, answer
a phone, or stretch. An occasional break from sitting is encouraged
because it helps to stimulate muscles, and increases blood flow,
which decreases fatigue.
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Use of Anthropometric Data
To improve the design of things and spaces for people to use so
that they are more comfortable, efficient, easy to use and safer
than previous designs. In order to do this it is necessary to have
some idea of the dimensions that are really important for the
particular design under consideration, the problems that have
been encountered by others and the recommendations, design
rules or regulations that are available.
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For example: If a seat height is to be decided and for
economic or other reasons it is not possible to provide any
adjustability, e.g. Seats in public places or in public
transport, then the most important dimension is popliteal
height which is the vertical distance from the sole of the
foot to the crook of the knee
This distance is important to the sitter because if the seat is
a little higher than his or her popliteal height then the foot
cannot be comfortably placed on the ground and there may
be discomfort due to the pressure on the underside of the
thigh resting on the seat. For this reason it is generally
recommended that the popliteal height of the smaller
members of the population is used to determine seat
heights.
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Anthropometric data's
Dimension, In
Body dimension Sex 5th 50th 95th
1. Stature (height) Male 63.7 68.3 72.6
Female 58.9 63.2 67.4
2. Eye height Male 59.5 63.9 68.0
Female 54.4 58.6 62.7
3. Shoulder height Male 52.1 56.2 60.0
Female 47.7 51.6 55.9
4. Elbow height Male 39.4 43.3 46.9
Female 36.9 39.8 42.8
5. Knuckle height Male 27.5 29.7 31.7
Female 25.3 27.6 29.9
13. Chest depth Male 8.4 9.5 10.9
Female 8.4 9.5 11.7
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Anthropometric data's
Dimension, In
Body dimension Sex 5th 50th 95th
6. Height, sitting Male 33.1 35.7 38.1
Female 30.9 33.5 35.7
7. Eye height, sitting Male 28.6 30.9 33.2
Female 26.6 28.9 30.9
8. Elbow rest height, Male 7.5 9.6 11.6
sitting Female 7.1 9.2 11.1
9. Thigh clearance Male 4.5 5.7 7.
height Female 4.2 5.4 6.9
10. Knee height, sitting Male 19.4 21.4 23.3
Female 17.8 19.6 21.5
11. Buttock-knee Male 21.3 23.4 25.3
distance, sitting Female 20.4 22.4 24.6
12. Popliteal height, Male 15.4 17.4 19.2
sitting Female 14.0 15.7 17.4
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