Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Creating products through body scanning
If you are one of those people who are between sizes and have difficulty
in finding clothes that fit to a “tee”, or have ever wondered if a day would
come when everyone would be able to have their clothes fitted before being
made - without paying the price of bespoke - well, it looks like your days of
wondering are over. The way clothing is designed and created is on its way
to being revolutionalized thanks to a new technology that is powered by an
application that scans the body form.
Body scanning is a new technology that is helping to shift the focus of
clothing design and production from mass-design and mass-production
to customized pieces with individualized sizing and design features. This
functions by scanning the body and feeding the appropriate dimensions into
a system, which then allocates these dimensions to the clothing's design
features to ensure an outcome of a perfectly fitted piece of clothing. The
application is suitable for every type of apparel for men, women and chil-
dren. If you own a pet, it could also be useful. Its arrival has been as a result
of advanced research in the identification of the possibility of using digital
technology for mass customization while allowing the client to be a part of
the design and production process. Through adopting technology that ena-
bles quick and efficient production, body scanning has brought about made-
to-measure clothes at quick turnaround times en masse. This has made
competitive prices possible, meaning that consumers seeking perfectly fit-
ted clothing are able to obtain them at prices that don't mean breaking the
bank.
Customized clothing production is, however, not an invention of the
twenty-first century. A trip down memory lane will reveal that until the
early part of last century, the majority of clothing was made one piece at a
time, often by a single tailor or dressmaker. With time, for women who were
mostly homemakers, learning dressmaking and sewing at home became the
norm. However, from the 1900s, the developments of the industrial revolu-
tion, which also introduced mass production techniques, changed the way
clothing was made. The invention of mass pattern-making machines and
industrial sewing machines led to the introduction of ready-to-wear, which
launched the modern age of apparel production. Homemade clothes went
out of vogue and it became more economical to buy ready-to-wear mass-
produced clothing than to have it made-to-measure. After nearly one hundred
years of ready-to-wear produced en masse, this system seems to be com-
ing to the end of its cycle and the evolution of both technology and society
is taking us back to the course of having made-to-measure clothing, albeit
differently.
Currently, consumers worldwide, particularly those that fall within the luxury
bracket, are seeking differentiation in many forms through what they wear -
clothing, accessories, handbags, shoes, jewelry and so on. Their desires
