Fitting Close-to-Body Garments with 3D Soft Body Avatars

We describe the first end-to-end system, called VitalFit, for predicting the fit of close-to-body garments using soft body avatars. Soft body avatars may be constructed by registering our VitalBody template to existing rigid avatars, or directly to 3D body scans. The resulting soft avatar includes a tetrahedral mesh and soft tissue material properties that may be numerically simulated using the finite element method (FEM). Designers, fit specialists, and pattern engineers may create virtual garments and evaluate fit using VitalFit DX, a plugin for Adobe Illustrator®. Users can import existing patterns or create them anew, and modify the patterns using the familiar tools in Adobe Illustrator®. In VitalFit the garment and body are simulated together, with two-way coupling of forces and displacements. This allows us to predict how human soft tissues deform in contact with the garment. We can also predict stresses and strains in both garment and body. VitalFit can simulate the coupled dynamics of soft tissues and garment, during running and other activities of daily living. These new tools can be used to predict not only static fit, but also how a garment may function in real life.