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Tracking Your Fitness with 3D Body Scanning

Tracking the Human Body

What is 3D body scanning? How does it work? What are the benefits?

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Understanding and tracking human body size and shape has long been performed with the use of instruments such as tapes, calipers and stadiometers.

Today anthropometry (i.e. measuring the human body) can be performed with three-dimensional body scanners.  Rather than taking hand-measurements, body scanners can take a 3D snapshot of the body in just a few seconds. 

 

How 3D Body Scanning Works

Once a scan is taken, the scan data is used to generate measurements, along with a three-dimensional view of the body. 

The output of whole body scanners is a cloud of points, which are typically converted into a triangulated mesh. This step is used to support the 3D visualization of the surface and the extraction of meaningful anthropometric landmarks and measurements.

 

Why Body Shape Matters

Benefits

3D body scanning is a fast and reliable tool for collecting body measurements. A scale might indicate that the subject has gained or lost weight, but it does not show weight distribution (i.e. where these changes have happened). This is especially important if you're looking to reduce abdominal fat (belly fat).

It also does not indicate whether the subject has gained body fat or lean mass in various body parts.

 

Limitations of Weight / BMI as a Health Indicator:

3D Body Scanning as an Alternative to BMI

Adolphe Quetelet created the BMI for measuring human body shape. It has prevailed for over 160 years

The BMI is an attempt to quantify the amount of tissue mass (muscle, fat, and bone) in an individual, and then categorize that person. However, the BMI does not indicate weight distribution. It also does not differentiate between body fat and lean mass. 

 

 

 

Watch Fitnescity's video about 3D Fitness Tracking 

Quantified Self Conference, May 2017

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Research