World Engineering Anthropometry Resource (WEAR) is an international not-for-profit group that "provides a digital platform for sharing
anthropometric
Anthropometry () 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 atte ...
data from around the world." It is registered in Europe but its members and partners are from all over the globe. It is made up of “a group of interested experts involved in the application of
anthropometry
Anthropometry () 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 at ...
data for
design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...
purposes.”
History
WEAR was first proposed in 2000 at an
International Ergonomics Association
The International Ergonomics Association (IEA) is a federation of fifty-two individual ergonomics organizations from around the world. IEA was formed in 1959.
The mission of the IEA is to elaborate and advance ergonomics science and practice, and ...
(IEA) meeting. The strategic plan was drafted at the first working meeting in Paris, France in 2002. The first workshop was at the IEA in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
, Korea in 2003. Since then there have been working meetings and symposiums in
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
China,
Australia,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, The
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Japan,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. WEAR gained support from the
International Council for Science (ICSU): Committee on Data for Science and Technology (
CODATA) in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, Germany in 2004. Renewal of WEAR as the
CODATA Task group for Anthropometric Data and Engineering was made in 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012. The first WEAR short course was held in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
in 2008. The website launch of the beta version of the online WEAR resource was at the IEA Congress in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
in 2009.
[“Sizing Up Australia — The Next Step”, Safe Work Australia, August 2013, chpt 17, p.3. http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/about/publications/pages/sizing-up-australia] The WEAR Conference met in Adelaide in 2011.
To create a searchable resource like WEAR is a mammoth undertaking. A standardization procedure was required to make more than 120 different anthropometric databases searchable and comparable. These databases often had different measurement collection methodologies, some described without much detail, and some in languages other than English. To achieve a workable standard the Anthropometric Measurement Interface (AMI) was created.
A WEAR/
CODATA meeting was held on 18 November 2013 in Long Beach, California, USA. During the November 18th meeting those present discussed the new datasets added to the WEAR portal and organised for future uploads. WEAR representatives appointed new officers and made plans to attend the
CODATA meeting in India in 2014.
WEAR’s President is Dr Kathleen Robinette, Treasurer Dr Régis MOLLARD and Secretary General Dr Daisy Veitch.
Goals
The goals of WEAR are, according to its members, "to provide high-quality data, including
anthropometry
Anthropometry () 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 at ...
, tools and applications, for end-users in a self-sustaining way and to provide an educational forum with which to expand the user-base of anthropometric data for design purposes."
References
{{Reflist
Further reading
Newton, David E., ''DNA Evidence and Forensic Science'', Infobase Publishing, New York, 2008, pp 206, 209.
Niu, Jianwei, Li, Zhizhong and Xu, Song, “Block Division in Three-Dimensional Head Shape Clustering” in Duffy, Vincent G. (ed.) ''Digital Human Modelling'', Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2009, p. 64.
Macauley-Bush, Pamela, ''Ergonomics: Foundational Principles, Applications, and Technologies'', CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group, Boca Raton, Florida, 2011, p. 144.
Niu, Jianwei and Li, Zhizhong, “Using 3D Anthropometric Data in Design” in Preedy, Victor R.(ed.), ''A Handbook of Anthropometry: Physical Measures of Human Form in Health and Disease'', Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London, 2012, vol 4, part 26, chpt.185, p. 3003.
Plocher, Tom, Rau, Pei-Luen Patrick and Choong, Yee-Yin, “Cross-Cultural Design” in Salvendy, Gavriel (ed.) ''Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics'', John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 2012, Chpt.6, p. 169.
Barbé, Jérome, Wolff, Marion, and Mollard, Régis, “Human-Centred Design Approach to Integrate Touch-Screen in Future Aircraft Cockpits” in Kurosu, Masaaki (ed.) ''Human-Computer Interaction: Interaction Modalities and Techniques. Part IV'', Springer-Verlag. Berlin Heidelberg 2013, chapt 21, p. 431.
External links
Official website: http://www.bodysizeshape.com
Anthropometry
Biometrics
Ergonomics organizations