What Is Anthropometry And What Application Does It Have In Modern Times?

Anthropometry literally means the measurement of humans and in the context of physical anthropology it refers to understanding human physical variation by measuring individual sizes.

Anthropometry studies the variations that the human body shows in relation to the climatic conditions that it is adapted for and now these studies are increasingly being adapted to and used for designing products for human use, more particularly adapted for ergonomic use.

It is the science of anthropometry that assists in product designs in cases such as:

• Footwear: Measurement devices are brought to use in determining what would be the dimensions of shoes manufactured for retail sale.
• Clothing: When determining the range of clothing sizes to be manufactured, anthropometric data can be very useful.
• Air travel: The data collected in anthropometric study is useful in determining the dimensions of airline seating. It is this that would determine what is the minimum amount of space required in terms of height, width and depth of the seat, the leg space etc.
• Ergonomics: Anthropometric data is vital for designing ergonomic furniture that takes into account the dimensions of a given population and the average requirements of that population based on their physical dimensions.