About this project

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Research areas

Sport Physical Activity Research Centre

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Threespace - 3D imaging human measurement

Man on a static bike with a laptop recording his performance for analysis

Threespace and the human morphology research group are concerned with utilising modern 3D imaging technology for the measurement and assessment of human shape and form. Our work seeks to impact methods that are used for population level screening, to better understand the relationship between external form and internal function of the human body. With this we hope to better classify health risks within the human population.

Over the last eight years, the morphology research team has developed and researched a suite of advanced size body measurement methods (hardware and software) using three-dimensional (3D) surface imaging as a result of 3 PhDs and our work with industrial partners in elite sport, fashion and health care. We have considerable expertise and experience in software development which has allowed us to build our techniques into a C# based bespoke software suite - ‘Kinanthroscan’, which allows us to apply our techniques for analysis purposes to data captured by 3D imaging systems. This work is evidenced in the research teams' academic output and was supported by around £500,000 of associated grant income, listed within each researcher's CV.

We have made every attempt to position ourselves as experts in human morphology - both 3D and manual body measurement. To ensure all work conducted by the research team is in line with current practice and standards, researchers are accredited manual measurements to the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK) standards (Level 2 and Level 1 respectively); our team are members of the IEEE 3D body processing industry connections working group and IEEE P3141 - Standard for 3D Body Processing; and the research team proactively engages within PPI and market analysis activities.

Research and consultancy

As part of the Sports Engineering Research Group at Sheffield Hallam University we have years of experience in delivering research and consultancy projects for a wide variety of clients. See the case studies on our website for more detail on individual projects.

About this project

Explore the people, research centres and partner organisations behind this project.

Research areas

Sport Physical Activity Research Centre

Get in touch

Contact SPARC to discuss facilities, partnerships, doctoral research and more

Contact us

Publications

Thelwell M, Chiu C-Y, Bullas A, Hart J, Wheat J, Choppin S. How shape-based anthropometry can complement traditional anthropometric techniques: a cross-sectional study., Sci Rep. 2020 Dec 22;10(1):12125.

Kordi M, Haralabidis N, Huby M, Barratt PR, Howatson G, Wheat JS. Reliability and validity of depth camera 3D scanning to determine thigh volume., J Sports Sci. 2019;37(1):36–41.

Chiu C-Y, Thelwell M, Senior T, Choppin S, Hart J, Wheat J. Comparison of depth cameras for three-dimensional reconstruction in medicine., Proc Inst Mech Eng Part H J Eng Med. 2019 Sep 28;233(9):938–47.

Bullas A, Heller B, Choppin S, Wheat J. The relationship between peak power and leg size in mountain bike cyclists. , In: World Conference on Kinanthropometry and Body Composition ISAK-UADY 2016.

Bullas AM, Choppin S, Heller B, Wheat J. Validity and repeatability of a depth camera-based surface imaging system for thigh volume measurement., J Sports Sci. 2016;34(20):1998–2004.

Laws S, Choppin S, Peiris L, Rainsbury D. Validation of the 3D laser as a tool to measure breast volume in women undergoing treatment for breast cancer and other breast diseases., Eur J Surg Oncol. 2016;42(5):S26.

Choppin SB, Wheat JS, Gee M, Goyal A. The accuracy of breast volume measurement methods: A systematic review., The Breast. 2016;28:121–9.

Clarkson S, Wheat J, Heller B, Choppin S. Assessing the suitability of the microsoft kinect for calculating person specific body segment parameters., Vol. 8925, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics). 2015.

Clarkson S, Wheat J, Heller B, Choppin S. Assessment of a Microsoft Kinect-based 3D scanning system for taking body segment girth measurements: a comparison to ISAK and ISO standards.,J Sports Sci. 2015 Sep 11;1–9.

Probst H, Choppin SB, Wheat JS, Harrison M, Goyal A. The development of a low cost 3D surface imaging system to measure breast volume: defining minimum standards using an adapted Delphi consensus study., J Plast Reconstr Aesthetic Surg. 2015.

Bullas AM, Heller B, Choppin SB, Wheat J. Kinanthropometry applications of depth camera based 3D scanning systems in cycling: Repeatability and agreement with manual methods., In: 5th International Conference on 3D Body Scanning Technologies. 2015.

Choppin S, Lane B, Wheat J. The accuracy of the Microsoft Kinect in joint angle measurement., Sport Technol. 2014;7(1–2):98–105.

Wheat JS, Choppin SB, Goyal A. Development and Assessment of a Microsoft Kinect based system for imaging the breast in three dimensions., Med Eng Phys. 2014.

Choppin SB, Wheat JS. The potential of the Microsoft Kinect in sports analysis and biomechanics., Sport Technol. 2013 [cited 2013 Dec 31];(September):37–41.

Research team

Dr Alice Bullas

Research Fellow

Dr. Chuang-Yuan Chiu

Researcher

Professor Jonathan Wheat

Associate Dean, Research and Innovation, College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences

Dr John Hart

Senior Research Fellow