3DPatBody: 3D dataset of human bodies of a patagonian population and their anthropometric measurements

Abstract

The study of human body shape using classical anthropometric techniques is often problematic due to several error sources. Instead, 3D models and representations provide more accurate registrations, which are stable across acquisitions, and enable more precise, systematic, and fast measuring capabilities. Thus, the same person can be scanned several times and precise differential measurements can be established in an accurate manner. Here we present 3DPatBody, a dataset including 3D body scans, with their corresponding 3D point clouds and anthropometric measurements, from a sample of a Patagonian population (female=211, male=87, other=1). The sample is of scientific interest since it is representative of a phenotype characterized by both its biomedical meaning as a descriptor of overweight and obesity, and its population-specific nature related to ancestry and/or local environmental factors. The acquired 3D models were used to compare shape variables against classical anthropometric data. The shape indicators proved to be accurate predictors of classical indices, also adding geometric characteristics that reflect more properly the shape of the body under study.