3D anthropometric investigation of head and face characteristics of Australian cyclists

Design specialists have acknowledged the need for more accurate measurements of human anthropometry through the use of 3D data, especially for the design of head and facial equipment. However, 3D anthropometric surveys of the human head are sparse in the literature and practically non-existent for Australia. Research published to date has not proposed concrete methods that can accurately address the hair thickness responsible for inaccurate representation of the head's shape. This study used a state-of-the-art handheld white light scanner to digitize 3D anthropometric data of 222 participants in the Melbourne Metropolitan Area. The participants volunteered for the study consisted of 46 females and 176 males (age: 34.6 ± 12.5). The participants' head scans were aligned to a standard axis system, whereby a Hair Thickness Offset (HTO) method was introduced to more accurately describe the true shape of the head. It is envisaged that the database constructed through this research can be used as a reference for the design and testing of helmets in Australia.