20th International CODATA Conference
Session: Towards the Increased Use and Availability of Anthropometric Data for Engineering  (WEAR SESSION)

Overview of Activities of the WEAR (World Engineering Anthropometric Resource) Project of the CODATA Anthropometric Data Task Group

Sandy Ressler
National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA

This document outlines a plan to develop a resource for sharing anthropometric data effectively in order to make needed information readily available, quickly, and accurately, while at the same time minimizing cost.   It describes the proposed resource development technical plans, the anticipated costs, the main products, explains the current status, and some potential future efforts that could be explored.  It also details the proposed partnership relationships and the anticipated investments by the different partners. 

The resource can only be realized as a joint international effort.  Forming a consortium of government and industry allows the different groups to have a voice in the planning.   It also permits a larger scoped project by enabling the sharing of both costs and benefits.  In this manner the widest variety of applications for the resource will be served.  Individual companies can get a large amount of information for a small amount of investment by leveraging the investment of the government and the other companies involved.  

The preliminary planning work has already begun by an informal international group of volunteers calling itself the WEAR working group, with additional sponsorship from the European Office of Aerospace Research and Development (EOARD), the Asian Office of Aerospace Research and Development (AOARD), and CODATA.

Keywords: anthropometry, organization, data sharing