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Introduction
With the increased objective of creating more
efficient man-machine systems, the need to
collect extensive anthropometric data
becomes more important.
Consequences of designing systems that do
not accommodate for user populations
include user fatigue, task inefficiency and are
generally inconvenient.
Articles Presented
T.J. Galloway and M.J. Fitzgibbon (1991).
Some anthropometric measures on an Irish
population. Applied ergonomics 1991,
22.1, 9-12.
M.H. Al-Haboubi. Anthropometry for a mix of
different populations. Applied ergonomics
1990, vol. 23.
Summary (Gallwey and
Fitzgibbon)
Population studied Apparatus
164 males Harpenden
1990).
Iranian 8
Iraqi 11
The collective mixture of Jordanian
Kuwati
21
20
people who may have Lebanese 11
different sex, age, race or Omani
Pakistani
12
26
occupation should be Palestinian 21
identified as the user Qatari 9
population and
Saudi 124
Srilankan 8
anthropometric designs Syrian 26
should be based on their Turkish
United Arab Emirates
8
16
characteristics as one Yemeni 20
group. Sample Size 408
Dimensions Measured
Data for 19 body dimensions relevant to the design of chairs
were measured:
Statistics of anthropometric measurement of Easterners
Percentile
Variables Mean Sd 5th 50th 95th
Weight 696 117 530 690 930
Stature 1705 67 1600 1702 1822
Max body depth 249 33 206 250 310
Arm reach 754 45 680 750 830
Buttock-popliteal length 482 34 430 480 540
Max body breadth 482 34 430 480 540
Sitting height 870 37 810 870 925
Hip breadth (sitting) 372 34 320 370 430
Buttock-leg length 1044 49 970 1040 1130
Knee height (sitting) 539 27 500 540 585
Popliteal height (sitting) 408 10 398 400 430
Thigh clearance height (sitting) 155 21 120 154 190
Forearm-hand length 463 27 420 460 500
Elbow height (sitting) 219 24 170 220 250
Buttock-knee length 591 35 530 590 650
hand length 182 10 170 180 200
Hand breadth 102 7 90 100 110
Foot length 234 13 210 230 250
Foot breadth 100 8 90 100 110
Results (Al-Haboubi1990)
Most of the body dimensions followed normal
distribution.
Weight, max body depth, buttock – Popliteal length,
max body breadth, thigh clearance, elbow height,
and hand breadth all deviate from normality.
Reason cited: sample was drawn from non-
homogeneous mix of nationalities.
Thus %tiles for these dimensions were found by
counting.
Comparisons to Other
Populations (Al-haboubi1990)
Compared stature, weight, sitting height
between easterners and those countries that
export man-machine systems to Saudi.
Found that there are statistically significant
differences in almost all comparisons.
Caution must be taken when developing
countries import systems such as elevators
from other countries.
Comparing the articles
Measurements were taken with different postures.
Al-Haboubi focused on chair design postures, Gallwey
and Fitzgibbon focused on worker postures.
Gallwey and Fitzgibbon focused their study on a local
homogeneous male population with wide age range.
Al-Haboubi focused his study on a local non-
homogeneous population with a wide age range.
No females were used in either study.
Limitations (Gallwey and Fitzgibbon)
Static anthropometric data collected.
-Limited application to real-world
working postures.
Comparisons based on statistical estimations
and thus are not highly accurate.
Assumed U.S. Data followed a normal
distribution. As al-Haboubi demonstrated,
this assumption depends on another
assumption: population being studied is
homogeneous.
Limitations (Al-Haboubi)
Did not state how body dimensions
were measured.
No comparison made to homogeneous
local population.
Limited comparison with other
populations (only examined stature,
weight and sitting height).
No females used in study.
Future studies
Collect functional anthropometric data for
homogeneous and non-homogenous
populations.
Collect anthropometric data for different age
groups to see whether there is a significant
difference.
Possibly find reach envelopes for populations
for use in systems design.
Include females in study.
Questions