U.S. Army researchers have created a computer program designed to build three-dimensional avatars of uniformed personnel for use in the design of protective gear, equipment and vehicles, the Army reported April 4.
Kelly Field writes Gary Zientara and Reed Hoyt, researchers at the service branch’s Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, used a 3D body surface scanning tool from Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center to create 250 avatars of servicemen.
“Creating avatar models with this software enables individualized physiological modeling where an individual soldier’s avatar can be clothed and moved through different postures and positions in order to be able to test angles of vulnerability and eventually even exercise and test physiological responses in any climatic environment,†Zientara said.
Zientara noted that the program could potentially be used to build an online library of avatars for research use.
The USARIEM-built computer software works to identify a soldier’s surface anatomical components, external appendages and body positioning through a structure analysis of the 3D body scan.