Human Measurement Editor
Human Measurement Editor
Preface
What's New?
Getting Started
Access from the Start Menu
Access Using the Specification Tree
Access from the Manikin Tools Toolbar
Basic Tasks
Advanced Tasks
Interpolation Management
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Workbench Description
Glossary
Index
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Preface
Human Measurements Editor is based on a best-in-class human modeling system
which, for many years, has permitted detailed investigation into human-centered
design issues in the context of a workplace before it physically exists.
The Human Measurements Editor specifically focuses on creating detailed digital
humans for advanced human factors analysis and global target audience
accommodation.
In addition to six default manikins, Human Measurements Editor users can create any
human being from any population anywhere in the world. Users can amend all 103
anthropometric variables on the manikin or manipulate a smaller number of "critical"
variables and ask the Human Measurements Editor to determine the rest. These
variables can be altered manually by inputting desired measurements in percentile
value, unit measurement, or by an intuitive "click and drag" graphical user interface.
The Human Measurements Editor also has the capacity to define the mean and
standard deviation of all anthropometry variables. Using a unique multi-normal
technique, the Human Measurements Editor ensures that resultant manikins do exist in
the target population. In addition, it is possible to specify the percentage of the
population to be accommodated in the design using the boundary manikin technique.
How to Use this Guide
Where to Find More Information
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What's New?
There are no enhancements in this software release.
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Getting Started
This tutorial describes the tasks that enable you to access the anthropometric variables
as well as modify their values.
The tasks described in this section are:
Access from the Start Menu
Access Using the Specification Tree
Access from the Manikin Tools Toolbar
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Your manikins must already be created via the Human Builder workbench.
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2. Select Start -> Ergonomics Design & Analysis -> Human Measurements
Editor.
3. The anthropometry is displayed for the selected manikin. You can modify any
anthropometric value by double-clicking the corresponding arrow.
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Your manikins must already have been created via the Human Builder
workbench.
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Your manikins must already have been created via the Human Builder
workbench.
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Basic Tasks
These are the basic tasks that a user performs using Human Measurements Editor:
Editing Anthropometric Variables
Entering New Values
Changing Variable Management from Automatic to Manual
Changing the Gender of a Manikin
Manikin Display Attributes
Using Anthropometric Memos
Recovering Initial Settings
Using Predefined Postures
Using the Anthropometric Filter
Changing the Viewpoint
Anthropometric Copy/Paste Functions
Anthropometry Library Management
User-defined Population Databases
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3. Click on any variable to display its value and to activate all the items in
the dialog box. The selected variable will appear in the viewer and its
color will change.
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1. Display the Variable Edition dialog box by selecting the Display Variables
icon from the Anthropometry Editor toolbar.
2. Select the desired variable; the Management area of the dialog box is
activated.
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3. Set the management to Manual. The corresponding arrow (if any) turns to
red and you can now modify the value.
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2. Set the gender to Woman. The result is a female manikin (50th percentile).
3. You can also modify manikin gender by selecting the Male or Female icon in the
Anthropometry Editor toolbar.
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Select the Display Attributes icon in the Anthropometry Editor toolbar. The
Display Attributes dialog box appears displaying the following choices:
Segments
Ellipses
Surfaces
Center of gravity
Line of sight
Resolution:
Segments
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Ellipses
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Surfaces
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Center of gravity
The center of gravity cannot be manipulated. However, if you manipulate any
segment, the center of gravity's position will be dynamically updated.
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Line of sight
The line of sight is designed to facilitate the manipulation of the manikin's
vision. The blue line can be selected in the same way as any other segment of
the manikin.
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Resolution:
Resolution represents the number of points taken on each ellipse to draw the
surfaces at manikin creation. The default value of this parameter is 32 but it
can vary from 4 to 128.
Surface resolution: 4
The memo window is displayed. You can add to or modify any information in
the memo. Click OK to save the memo with the anthropometry.
The memo window is displayed. Notice that the window title now contains
variable's name.
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1. To see the real effect of the Reset function, create a manikin and
manually modify some of the values. In the example below, these
modified variables appear in red.
Stand
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Reach
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Extended Reach
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Span
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Part
This refers to the body of the manikin. The manikin body has seven
parts: Body, Head, Torso, Arm, Hand, Leg, and Foot.
As an example, by activating only the toggle button for the leg, you will
see only the anthropometric variables associated to the legs. The filter
selection affects the display of both the variable list and the arrows.
Type
This refers to the anthropometric measurement type. There are six
types of measurement: Circumference (girth), Height, Length, Breadth,
Depth, and Mass. You can activate any combination of these.
Management
This refers to the way the variable values are calculated.
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Reset
The Reset button brings the selection of the toggle buttons back to
default.
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View : Back
View : Side or
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View : Front
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Anthropometric Copy/Paste
Functions
This task describes how to copy the anthropometry from one manikin and
paste it on another manikin.
2. Select the Edit -> Copy command or click the right mouse button to
activate the contextual menu. Select Copy.
4. Select the Edit -> Paste command (or Paste from the contextual menu).
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Load Library
This command opens the Open Human Library File dialog box that is used to
load an existing library file.
1. Select the Open Human Library File icon. The Open Human Library File
dialog box is displayed.
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2. Select a file name and click Open. The Load Human Library dialog box is
displayed showing all the anthropometry information contained in the
selected file.
If the file does not contain any anthropometry information, the following error
message is displayed:
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Apply button
Select an item and click Apply (or double-click the item). The anthropometry
selected is applied to the manikin. The progress indicator at the bottom of
the window shows the load action; when the load is done, the manikin is
automatically updated with the new anthropometry.
Remove button
Save in Library
This command allows you to save the anthropometry parameters of a manikin in
a library file.
1. Click the Save icon. The Save in Human Library dialog box is displayed.
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2. Click the browse button to select a file. The Select Library File dialog
box is displayed.
3. Enter or select a file name and click Open. If the file does not exist, a
confirmation window is displayed to create it.
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4. The Save in Human Library dialog box is displayed again. The Selection
type can only be Anthropometry.
5. Enter a description in the Description field. Click OK. The file is saved
automatically and the progress indicator shows the save action. Otherwise,
an error window is displayed if the description is missing.
6. Click Cancel to exit the dialog box or to cancel the save action.
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The Population dialog box displays the available populations; the manikin's
current nationality is highlighted on the list.
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Failure to press the Apply button will cause the operation to remain
incomplete; the new population will not take effect.
1. Choose Tools -> Options from the main menu. Go to the Ergonomics Design & Analysis section, then select
Human Measurements Editor.
In the User-defined populations section of the Anthropometry tab, click the Add button.
2. The Open a population file dialog box appears allowing you to select a population file.
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A population file is a safework statistic file describing a population. It contains the user-defined dimensions for the
population under study, and follows a very precise format. The file, my_population.sws, is an example of such a
population file. See the Advanced Task, Creating a Population File, for more details.
3. Select the desired population file, and click Open. If the file specified is read successfully, the corresponding
population is added to the list; otherwise an error message is displayed.
4. To add another population to the list, repeat steps 1-3 above.
5. Click OK to close the Open a population file dialog box.
6. From now on, it is possible to create a manikin that uses the new population just added.
In the Human Builder Workbench, click the Create Manikin icon and choose “my_population.sws” from the
Population pull-down menu in the New Manikin dialog box.
Added user-defined populations will also be available in the Human Measurements Editor workbench by activating
the Population icon in the Anthropometry Editor toolbar.
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1. Choose Tools -> Options from the main menu. Go to the Ergonomics Design & Analysis section, then select
Human Measurements Editor.
2. In the User-defined populations field, select the items to remove, then click the Remove button.
3. Click OK to close the Options dialog box; the populations are removed.
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Advanced Tasks
These are advanced tasks that a user performs using Human Measurement Editor:
Interpolation Management
Using Anthropometric Variables in Formulas
Creating a Population File
Anthropometric Variables
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Interpolation Management
This task describes how to select the type of interpolation needed to calculate
the anthropometric variables.
1. Select the Interpolation icon from the Anthropometry Editor toolbar.
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2. The Interpolation dialog box appears. There are two ways to calculate
variables:
Multinormal
None
Multinormal
This is the default mode of calculation. This mode allows you to modify
one variable while taking into consideration:
all the correlation between variables and
limit values for each variable.
These limitations are defined according to the percentage of
accommodation selected by you. When this mode is selected, the
manikins created will realistically exist in the target population. After
selecting the desired percentage of accommodation, the boundary value
will be automatically updated.
This mode also allows you to generate boundary manikins in order to
accurately achieve the accommodation of the target population.
None
As its name suggests, this mode removes all the limitations on the
variable values. If there is no database available for your specific needs,
this mode can be used to generate manikins that are not included in the
current population. For example, if there is no database available on
pregnant women, you can generate these women by removing the
limitations of the current database.
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WARNING!
Be careful when using this mode; not only can you generate manikins not
included in the target population, but you can generate manikins that are
totally unrealistic. Be aware that impossible manikins will not necessarily
look unrealistic.
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2. The Formulas dialog box will appear. From the Specification tree, select the manikin (or the father product) to
work with. A filter will be applied and the list of all anthropometric variables for the selected manikin(s) will be
displayed in the dialog box window as shown below.
3. With the Formula dialog box, it is possible to create formulas between user-set variables and other parameters
defined elsewhere in the environment. An example of this would be to have the manikin automatically adapt
whenever another critical dimension in the environment changes.
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A population file is organized into sections of data; each section must begin
with a keyword and end with a keyword. The ending keyword of one section is
the beginning keyword of the next section, except for the last section where
the ending keyword must be 'END'. All blank lines are discarded, and all lines
beginning with the '!' (exclamation point) character are considered as
comments, and are also discarded.
A population file may contain at most four sections, with the following
keywords:
MEAN_STDEV M
MEAN_STDEV F
CORR M
CORR F
All sections are optional; the MEAN_STDEV sections must appear before the
CORR sections. Furthermore, a given keyword may not appear twice in the
same population file.
In the MEAN_STDEV sections, the user may provide values (mean and
standard deviation) of every measurement reflecting the population of the
study. There must be one line per entry, and each entry must describe, at
most, one variable in the following fashion:
<variable> <mean> <stddev>
where <variable> is the variable reference number, <mean> is the mean
value of the variable and <stddev> is the standard deviation value defining
that variable.
A population file may be as simple as the following:
! This is a sample population file
MEAN_STDEV M
us100 177.0 6.0
MEAN_STDEV F
US100 164.0 6.0
END
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In the population file above, the mean value of the stature (variable us100) of
a male manikin is defined as 177 centimeters (70 inches), with a standard
deviation of 6.0. Likewise, the mean stature value of a female manikin is 164
centimeters (64.5 inches).
In the CORR sections, the user may provide correlation values between any
pair of variables. The correlation between two variables can be defined as a
real number in the range [-1.0 ; 1.0], expressing the relative dependency
between the two variables. The higher the correlation absolute value, the more
dependant the variables are on each other.
When defining correlations, there must be one line per entry, and each entry
must describe one correlation between one pair of variables, in the following
fashion:
<variable1> <variable2> <correlation>
where <variable1> is the reference number of the first variable,
<variable2> is the reference number of the second variable, and
<correlation> is the correlation value linking the two variables together.
Please note that <variable1> must be different from <variable2>,
because by definition, the correlation between a variable and itself is always
1.0. Furthermore, the reference number of <variable1> must be lower than
the reference number of <variable2>
If the correlation value given is not within the range [-1.0; 1.0], then an error is
raised.
The following file gives an example of correlation specifications:
! This is a sample population file
MEAN_STDEV M
us100 177.0 6.0
MEAN_STDEV F
US100 164.0 6.0
CORR M
us2 us125 0.772
us2 us127 0.470
us63 us77 0.288
us63 us81 0.309
us63 us82 0.288
CORR F
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Please note that all length values appearing in a population file must be
provided in centimeters, and all weight values must be provided in
kilograms. Also note that the keywords in a population file are case
sensitive. As such, the keyword mean_stdev f would be considered a
syntax error.
An example of a population file, my_population.sws, is provided in the
samples directory.
Also appearing in the samples directory are the five default populations
available at manikin creation:
American
Canadian
French
Japanese
Korean
Please refer to Anthropometric Variables for more information. This table
contains all information about each variable used in Human Measurements
Editor including the reference number, the acronym, the full name, and the
definition of each variable.
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Anthropometric Variables
This table contains all information about each variable used in Human Measurements
Editor including the reference number, the acronym, the full name, and the definition of
each variable.
Ref. no. Acronym Description
ABDOMINAL EXTENSION DEPTH, SITTING.
us2 <ABEXDPST> Horizontal distance between the anterior point of
the abdomen and the back at the same level.
ACROMIAL HEIGHT, STANDING. Vertical
us3 <ACRHGHT> distance between the standing surface and the
acromion landmark on the tip of the shoulder.
ACROMIAL HEIGHT, SITTING. Vertical distance
us4 <ACRHTST> between the sitting surface and acromion
landmark on the tip of the shoulder.
ACROMION-RADIAL LENGTH. Distance between
us5 <ACRDLGTH> the acromion landmark at the tip of the shoulder
and radial landmark on the elbow.
ANKLE CIRCUMFERENCE. Minimum horizontal
us6 <ANKLCIRC>
circumference of the ankle.
AXILLA HEIGHT. Vertical distance between the
us7 <AXHGHT> standing surface and the axillary fold at the
anterior scye landmark on torso.
AXILLARY ARM CIRCUMFERENCE.
Circumference of the upper arm perpendicular to
us8 <AXARCIRC>
its long axis at the level of the anterior scye
landmark on the upper arm.
BALL OF FOOT CIRCUMFERENCE.
Circumference of the foot at the first and fifth
us9 <BLFTCIRC>
metatarsophalangeal protrusion landmarks on the
ball of the foot.
BALL OF FOOT LENGTH. Distance between the
back of the heel and the landmark at the first
us10 <BLFTLGTH>
metatarsophalangeal protrusion on the ball of the
foot.
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Workbench Description
The Human Measurements Editor Version 5 application window looks like this:
Click the hotspots to see the related documentation.
Start
For See
Tools
For See
Gender Changing the
Gender of a
Manikin
Population Determine the
Current
Nationality of a
Manikin
Change the
Nationality of a
Manikin
Add a New
Population
Postures Using
Predefined
Postures
Variable List Editing
Anthropometric
Variables
Changing
Variable
Management
from Automatic
to Manual
Entering New
Values
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Changing the
Gender of a
Manikin
Filter Using the
Anthropometric
Filter
Interpolation Interpolation
Managemen
Display Manikin
Display
Attributes
Descriptions Using
Anthropometric
Memos
Open Anthropometry
Safework Library
Library Management
Save in Anthropometry
Safework Library
Library Management
Reset Recovering
Initial Settings
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See Editing Anthropometric Variables. For other uses of this command, also
see:
Changing Variable Management from Automatic to Manual
Entering New Values
Changing the Gender of a Manikin
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Glossary
A
angular limitations The manikin's joint limitations.
D
degree(s) of freedom Each linear or rotary movement along or about a given axis.
Manikin segments can have up to three DOFs.
F
father product The product the manikin will be attached to in the
specification tree. It can be the root product or any other
product under the root.
L
line of sight Designed to facilitate the manipulation of the manikin's field
of vision. It can be selected as any other segment of the
manikin.
M
manikin A virtual human.
P
posture The position of the whole manikin (global posture) or of
parts of the manikin such as hand posture (local posture).
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specification tree Area of the document window reserved for viewing the
design specifications of a part, presented in the form of a
tree structure.
V
visual field The entire area that can be seen when the eye is forward,
including peripheral vision.
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Index
A
anthropometric
copy/paste function
filter, using
memos, using
variable management, manual
variables in formulas, using
variables, editing
Anthropometry Editor toolbar
C
commands
Display Attributes
Display Variables
Extended Reach
Filter
Interpolation
Load Library
Memo
Population
Reach
Reset
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Save in Library
Span
Stand
Switch Gender to Female
Switch Gender to Male
copy/paste function
D
display attributes
center of gravity
ellipses
line of sight
manikin
resolution
segments
surfaces
E
editing anthropometric variables
F
formulas, using anthropometric variables in
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G
gender of manikin, changing
H
Human Measurements Editor,
access from the Manikin Tools toolbar
access from the Start menu
access using the specification tree
I
initial settings
how to set
recovering
interpolation management
L
Library Management
Load Library command
M
manikin display attributes
manikin gender, changing
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N
nationality, changing a manikin's
nationality, determining the current
P
population databases, user-defined
population, adding a user-defined
population, changing a manikin's
population, determining the current
predefined postures
extended reach
reach
span
stand
using
S
Save in Library command
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T
toolbars
Anthropometry Editor
U
user-defined population, adding
V
variable management, changing from automatic to manual
variable management, manual
viewpoint, changing
W
workbench description