Question

Why anthropometry is used in human machine systems?

Answer 1

Anthropometry (from Greek ἄνθρωπος anthropos, "human", and μέτρον metron, "measure") refers to the measurement of the human individual. An early tool of physical anthropology, it has been used for identification, for the purposes of understanding human physical variation, in paleoanthropology and in various attempts to correlate physical with racial and psychological traits. Anthropometry involves the systematic measurement of the physical properties of the human body, primarily dimensional descriptors of body size and shape.[1] Alphonse Bertillon (1853–1914) is considered to be the father of anthropometry because of his many contributions to the field, including what we know today as the “mug shot.” [2]

Today, anthropometry plays an important role in industrial design, clothing design, ergonomics and architecture where statistical data about the distribution of body dimensions in the population are used to optimize products. Changes in lifestyles, nutrition, and ethnic composition of populations lead to changes in the distribution of body dimensions (e.g. the rise in obesity), and require regular updating of anthropometric data collections.