Virtual design of knitted compression garments based on bodyscanning technology and the three-dimensional-to-two-dimensional approach

Abstract

The interdisciplinary approach for the design of compression garments was developed by means of establishing new databases about the elongation of knitted materials, the morphology of female bodies, and the relations between both with the pressure under the garment. We used KES-FB1 and a cylinder made of cosmetology silicone to investigate the relationship between the knitted material strain and the pressure produced. To find the factors that are responsible for comfort perception of compression garments, a sensory analysis with female participants was used to establish the pressure range that is permissible for the human body and the effect of its reshaping. The experimental data obtained was used for validating the theoretical approaches about, firstly, the transformation of a solid polygonal avatar of the scanned body to the soft one, secondly, the virtual three-dimensional (3D) creation of a compression garment in a “relaxed non-elongation state” and, thirdly, obtaining virtual two-dimensional (2D) pattern blocks. Science explorations dedicated to 3D-to-2D flattening of pattern blocks of the avatar surface and to the creation of tight-fitted garments were considered as the background of our research. Several compression garments for females with different morphological features, which were designing by means of a new 3D-to-2D method for flattening of pattern blocks and the traditional 2D “Müller and Sohn” manual, were obtained. The mean value of absolute difference between the predicted and measured pressure was improved from 33% to 14%. Thus, the developed approach based on contemporary virtual reality collection of input data allows one to predict the pressure of compression garments with higher accuracy.