2011-26-0108
SIZE INDIA- Anthropometric Size Measurement of
Indian Driving Population
Dileep Kulkarni, Ranjan S, Vivek Chitodkar, Varada Gurjar, C V Ghaisas and A V Mannikar
The Automotive Research Association of India, India
ABSTRACT
Anthropometric data of a country is vital database for
automotive design and other design applications. It is also
an important parameter in population studies. Most developed
countries have invested resources over the years to develop
such a database and this information is accessed by many
OEMs and major Design Houses. However, an updated
and comprehensive Anthropometry of Indian Population is
largely unknown. In the past, a few institutions have done
projects to bring out a picture of the Indian Anthropometry.
However, keeping in view the rapid industrialization and
increase of India-specific designs which require an access
to latest Anthropometric database, the project “SIZE INDIA”
has been initiated.
For the first time in India, a state of the art 3D Whole
body scanner technology has been used and thereby large
volume of data has been generated in a very short span of
time. The project will provide 3D whole body scan data
and digital images of hand and feet of more than 5000
samples. The subjects sampled are between 18 and 65 years
of age and belong to the driving population of the country.
Relevant demographic information such as subject’s origin,
food habits, hygiene, income, types of vehicles driven etc is
also collected which helps in studying the influence of these
different factors on body sizes.
This paper discusses the methodology adopted to capture the
variation in body sizes that exists among different population
groups in India. It establishes the steps like data collection,
data validation and statistical review for such a survey.
The paper brings out the typical trends and results of key
anthropometric measures and the variation among different
groups. The authors trust that apart from the Automotive
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Published on
19th-21st January
2011 SIAT, India
Copyright © 2011 SAE International and Copyright © 2011 SIAT, India
Industry, such a database will be of great use not just to
many different applications like helmets, furniture design,
workplace ergonomics, clothing and accessories and CAD
tools.
Keywords : Anthropometric, Indian Driving Population, Laser
Scanning Technology
INTRODUCTION
Anthropometric data are static and dynamic measurements of
the human body. They provide designers with the potential
end user’s physical, functional and relational characteristics
and are therefore an important part of the process of
developing a design solution. The correct use of appropriate
data helps make workplaces and products fit real people
(rather than the other way around) [1].
Forms of Anthropometry Data
Anthropometric data come in many forms that include 1D,
2D and 3D data. 1D data is in the form of only one number,
such as eye height or statistics such as percentile. Similarly
each data point in 2D data will have two dimensions, that
is x and y, such as a body silhouette. Each 3D data point
has three numbers, x,y and z, such as a 3D body scan [2].
Typically, 1D data would be used for a design problem which
has only one factor. For example, to only determine the roof
clearance of a car, the designer would look up to the 1D
anthropometric tables and take the dimensions for sitting
height so as to fit 95% of his target population.
However, where more than one parameter is needed for
design, use of 1D data is inadequate [3]. Most of the
practical design cases require many parameters for example,
Symposium on International Automotive Technology 2011
in the design of interior packaging of a car. An outstanding
strength of the use of actual 3D body scan data is the
improved accuracy of the modelling that is available to aid
complex design solutions creating an ability to visualize
cases with respect to the equipment or apparel they wear or
use [3]. They give a much better approximation to real life
than was given by contrived 3D modelling built from 1D
(often percentile) data, and lead to better outcomes, such as
improved accommodation envelope
Traditionally, 1D data has been used all over the world by
designers. But with the advent of scanner technology and
computer modelling, 3D data provides the designers an
option of a more sophisticated style of designing. Hence, the
authors feel that a survey should contain both 1D and 3D
data so that people from all schools of thought can make
use of the data.
Laser Scanning Technology
The historic 1D measurements were done manually with
tape measures and calipers and these measures took more
than one hour per subject to collect; thus collecting and
constructing databases was very expensive. The idea of
a digital 3D body image scanned into a computer was
considered to be a great improvement because it would save
time and body measurements could be derived automatically
using software. Any measurement not taken at the time of
scanning could be analyzed retrospectively by interrogating
the database so users in the future could be accommodated.
Currently laser scanners have the best image acquisition
capability followed by pattern light projection scanners.
The lowest quality scans are currently millimeter scanners
[4]. Size India has hence used a 3D laser Scanner for data
acquisition.
Existing Studies on India Anthropometry
The National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad developed
two data sets ‘Indian Anthropometric data for designers’ in
1989 and ‘A study on Indian Body dimensions for home
interiors and furniture’ in 1994 and compiled the two in a
book in 1997 titled ‘Indian Anthropometric Dimensions-for
ergonomic design practice’ [5]. This book contains data of
290 body measurements (both static and dynamic) collected
over the years for about 900 subjects. The Industrial Design
Centre of IIT Bombay has come out with data pack on body
dimensions, ‘Anthropometry of Indian school Children’ in
1986 [6].
Department of Textile Engineering of IIT Delhi has published
a paper on the Anthropometric measurements of young
college students taken for garment design [7]. Defence
Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, DRDO has
conducted Anthropometry survey for the Indian Armed Forces
and young aged women [8]. Institute of Aerospace Medicine
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have over the years studied the anthropometry of Indian army
and air force recruits for their internal use [9,10]. Pioneering
studies on gathering anthropometry of Indian population are
done by Indian Statistical Institute, Society of Ergonomics
and Anthropological Survey of India [11].
In the year 1997, initiative has been taken to gather
anthropometric data of Indian Driving Population for
ergonomic analysis of driving postures [12]. The most recent
study was done by Agarwal et.al[13] on the Anthropometry
of North Eastern Agricultural workers of India in which they
have sampled 1027 subjects.
SIZE INDIA project has been supported by the Govt. Of
India. It is a big effort to developing a representative Indian
anthropometry database by providing state of the art 3-D
whole body scan.
The highlights of the project are,
 3-D surface anthropometry data of Indian population for
the first time in India
 Data of 100 univariate dimensions
 Demographic database of sample subjects
DESIGN OF SIZE INDIA
Stratified random sampling strategy was adopted as it allows
getting a good assumption of a global population by sampling
fewer subjects in different strata the population. Of all the
numerous factors affecting the body sizes, age, region and
gender are chosen for selecting the test subjects [14]
Geography
The country was divided into five geographical zones of
North, East, South, West and Central which represent diverse
climatic conditions.
Age Group
The project is designed to generate a database of the Indian
adult driving population and hence the subjects of the age
18-65 years were considered. Based on the guidelines of
CAESAR, the population is split into three age groups
namely 18-29, 30-44 and 45 and above depicting the young,
middle aged and elderly people.
Gender
For generating a comprehensive database, equal sampling
of both Male and Female populations is necessary. Each
combination of the above variables constitutes a ‘cell’. Based
on the above design variables, total number of cells for the
survey will be:
5 Regional groups; 3 Age groups; 2 Gender groups = 5 X
3 X 2 = 30. Each of these cells should have equal number
of samples [14].
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Sample Size
To determine the number of samples required per cell, a
particular measurement is selected as the deciding factor.
Stature is the measurement selected as it has the highest
standard deviation compared to that of all other dimensions
[15] Literature from around the world indicates that 6.5 cm
is a reasonable standard deviation estimate for body height
[16]. The desired cell accuracy is set at 1 cm. To estimate
the population mean with a 95% confidence level, the number
of samples required per cell is 163 [14].
Hence for 30 cells with each cell requiring 163 samples, the
total number of samples turns out to be 4890.

DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGY

Technology-3D Scanner and Image Analysis
System
VITUS Smart XXL body scanners with ANTHROSCAN
software were used to measure the test persons. This device
was specially developed for extensive serial measurement
programs and it complies with the ISO 20685 standard
[16]. These systems have proven themselves in different
measurement surveys (Spain, France, Sweden, Germany etc.).
A low cost image analysis anthropometry system was
developed to capture measurements of small features of
the hand and foot in a fast, automatic and non-contact
manner. Web cameras were used with customized fixtures Figure 1. Scanning Postures
to capture images of the palm and feet in various postures
and from various angles. The analysis software was Socio-Demographic Information of subjects
developed to analyze these images and extract pre-defined
1D anthropometric measurement. Along with the scanning and image capturing, socio-
demographic information was collected from every subject.
The questions were very carefully designed to aid in the
Body Measurements and Postures proper study of the effect of various such parameters on
For the body dimensions and postures, ISO 7250 [17] and anthropometry. Each subject was asked his origin, place of
ISO 20685 [18] were referred. This helps in comparing the work, annual income, marital status, family size, food habits,
results with global databases. According to these standards, nature of work, level of physical activity during the day and
body scans were taken in four postures (three standing and the vehicles driven.
one sitting). Using the image capture system, 7 images
of hand and foot in different postures were collected and Data Collection
analyzed. Since many of the foot pedal designs require
dimensions of the footwear used by people, dimensions of In the five regions identified for the project, data collection
the same were also captured. Fig. 1 show different scanning drive was conducted at 10 sites. The aim in selecting these
postures. sites was to get a good representation of the region and large
number of test subjects in a short duration. The sites where
The main objective of Size India was to cater to the the system was setup included public hangouts like eateries,
automotive industry. With the consultation of the Automotive cultural centres, auditoriums, automobile factories and
industry, set of 100 dimensions required for ergonomic and universities across the country. At every place, attractive gifts
safety design were identified. These are 73 measurements were given to all the test subjects as a token of appreciation
of the body and body parts, 20 detailed dimensions of the and also to attract more people to participate.
palm, 5 of the foot and 3 of the footwear.
The data collection drive started in the month of May 2009
Project team was well trained in guiding subjects to assume and concluded in August 2010. A total of 5028 samples were
the correct postures to maintain the quality of data collection. collected against the target of 4890.

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Symposium on International Automotive Technology 2011

Use of ‘Targets’ for Body Landmarks

In modern surveys using Scanner technology, target spheres
are used to locate body landmarks. Effort was made initially
to use the landmarks in Size India. However, the process
of scanning requires the person to be in minimal garments.
Since placing the targets requires the operator to touch the
person and physically identify and mark the landmark, scan
subjects were very reluctant with this process. Most were
willing to participate but with complete privacy. Hence the
use of landmarks was discarded.
Figure 2. Comparison of All India Male and Female
Garments Stature
The scan process requires the subjects to wear bare-minimum
clothing. Male subjects were scanned in their inner wear
while for female subjects were scanned in body fitting suit.
However the cultural apprehensions among women prevalent
in India resulted in lesser participation of female subject in
the project.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Size India project has now yielded a very valuable database
for designers to develop various products considering Indian
Anthropometry. A few of the results of this database have
been given below and discussed.
Figure 3. Variation of Height with Age
Table 1 and 2 give the statistics of the All India male and
female data for four basic body measurements. It is seen Fig. 4 shows the correlation of sitting and standing height.
that the standard deviation for height is 6.8 cm for male It is seen that there is a definite relation between the two.
and 6.2 cm for female population which is very close to our Table 3 shows the comparison of Size India data with two
assumption of 6.5 cm and comparable to world databases. other studies done on Indian Anthropometry. The results
Fig. 2 shows a graphical comparison of the probability show a definite upward trend in the height and body sizes
density function for stature of male and female data. over the years.
Table 1. Sample Statistics for All India Male

Table 2. Sample Statistics for All India Female

Figure 4. Correlation of Standing and Sitting Height

The Size India data is put into a Passive Safety perspective

Fig. 3 shows the comparison of height for all India male
data across various age groups. This shows that the younger
Indian population is getting taller and also shows the need
for updating the database periodically to facilitate appropriate
designs.
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in Table 4 by comparing the Indian population with the
current Anthropomorphic Test Devices (ATD) extensively
used automotive crash testing. Variations in body dimensions
with respect to SIZE INDIA data can be considered by
the automotive community while deciding upon the test
 Symposium on International Automotive Technology 2011

Table 3. Comparison with Indian Anthropometric Studies

Table 4 – Comparison of Hybrid III Dummy Dimensions [19] with SIZE INDIA Data

procedures for Indian scenario. Table 5 shows a comparison
of SIZE INDIA Stature with other populations. The surface
anthropometry technology creates 3D CAD models of the
Human Body which can be used to compare different body
sizes. Fig. 5 shows the overlapping of the body scans of the
tallest and shortest male in the database while Fig. 6 shows
the cross sections of same. Fig. 7 and 8 show comparison
of the extreme waist circumferences and upper leg lengths,
while Fig. 9 shows the extreme arm reach lengths. Such
comparison in 3D environment can be used in modern
automotive design procedures.

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Symposium on International Automotive Technology 2011

Table 5. Comparison of SIZE INDIA Stature with that of

Other Populations

Figure 6. Cross Section View of Subjects with Maximum

and Minimum Stature

Figure 7. Cross Sectional View of Belly of Subjects with

Extreme Waist Circumference

Figure 8. Cross Sectional View Showing Upper leg

of Subjects with Maximum and Minimum Buttock-hip
Figure 5. Comparison of Extreme Stature Length
6

Figure 9. Comparison of Scans of Subjects with
Maximum and Minimum Arm Lengths
CONCLUSION
The SIZE India project has developed a comprehensive
database of the Indian body dimensions. Over 5000 people
were sampled across various regions of the country using
stratified random sampling thereby generating very robust
data.
The project for the first time used 3D Whole Body scanning
technology in India thereby generating huge volume of data
in a very short time, something which has not been done in
the past in the country.
The project methodology has been discussed here which
includes sampling strategy, postures and standards
incorporated. Results of the various body dimensions have
been given along with comparison with previous Indian and
foreign studies. Also the advantages of 3D scanning have
been demonstrated by showing the comparison of the extreme
sizes in the database.
The results also indicate an upward trend in the body sizes
of the Indian people with time. People are getting taller and
‘bigger’ as indicated with the comparison of age groups and
with previously completed studies.
The results also bring out the variations that exist between
the Indian population and the American or European
population (Refer Table 5). The variation indicates that
enough consideration should be given for ergonomic
requirements of Indian population body sizes while designing
the products for this group.
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Symposium on International Automotive Technology 2011
Although the participation of female volunteers was lesser,
enough data has been collected to meet the 95% accuracy
criteria for female population of Western, Southern and
Northern India. The future data collection will cover
the missing groups of eastern and north-eastern India.
(Clarification considering the comments of 2nd reviewer)
The data being dynamic thereby needs to be updated
periodically. This project has established a permanent
infrastructure of the technology in the country thereby
enabling data collection in the future to keep this Indian
database updated.
FUTURE SCOPE
Future data collection plan will include population groups
like North-eastern states for male and female data and female
population of eastern India. This will make the data more
representative
The program will also expand to include the size data of
young children, from 8-14 years of age, which can be used in
the design of Child Restraint Systems (CRS) for a passenger
car, or in the design of other products
Further, the data can be integrated into reputed ergonomic
evaluation software so that the designers can easily use the
database in the design stage of the product life-cycle.
The results can be used to upgrade the national standards/
guidelines for ergonomic design of industrial products.
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Symposium on International Automotive Technology 2011

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