2. Digital bodies

References & Inspiration

1. Isobel Jo Leonard↗
2. Alessia Pasquini↗
3. Stephanie Johnson↗
4. Sara alvarez↗
5. Andrew F. Scott↗

This week was really interesting for me as it forced me to think more about our bodies, the construction of them and their position within digital spaces. Apart from the occasional use of a laser cutter at university, all these new softwares and techniques were totally new to me so it was very exciting. I took a deep dive into the Fabricademy archive and found I was most inspired and drawn to unique compositions of the body, using the stacked slices method. I loved how the layers of cardboard articulated the contours of the body, like hills on a map. Alessia Pasquini’s pregnant women and Sara alvarez’s body poking out inspired me most through this, leading me to consider ways I could interpret it in my own way.

Teaching & Research

My notebook pages from Anastasia's lecture.

This reflects how I began to understand the concept of Digital Bodies and the techniques within it. I was particularly interested in the history of the human body and how we have perceived it through the centuries, thinking about human proportions and perception. I was unaware of how large the shift has been from bespoke to virtual, and how the digitalisation of the fashion industry has resulted to avatars and virtual wardrobes. Although this is being positioned as a reducting textile waste, I don't believe it is a solution. It has opened my eyes to a different sector of the industry and I am excited to consider it more. Anastasia then taught us about the different digital softwares to consider, ranging from 3D scanning to subtractive and constructive manufacturing.

3D Scanning

Making our own digital bodies using a 3D Scanner and the software, Creality.

Flora_obj by florahouldsworth.design on Sketchfab

Step-by-step guide :

• Set Up. Green background with a rotating chair, tripod with camera and laptop with Creality Scan connected.
• New Project. Body ✔︎ Geometry ✔︎ High-qaility ✔︎ Fast ✔︎
• Rotate to landscape view.
• Do a practice rotation to see if positioning is correct. Green = Good!
• Then slowly rotate 360°, then lift camera up and rotate again.

After the Scan :

• Complete Scan and optimize.
• Don't let it hypernate
• Go to Mesh Settings, change to manual and reduce levels.
• Do the same with faces.
• Use the Lasso Tool to remove pieces.
• ✔︎ Fill holes.
• Export as .obj
• Import into Rhino3D to edit more.

I really enjoyed this process as I found it fascinating watching me and my classmates be turned into 3D virtual bodies. I learnt how difficult it is to get a perfect scan, as you can see above my face is slightly deformed and I think that was from moving during the scanning process. Through practice and many experiments, our outcomes improved. I would like to experiment with this more in the future to see how I can take this further.

Our Assignment Workflow.

Using MakeHuman Digital Bodies, Rhino3D and Slicer to create physical outcomes. This diagram was very helpful as it visualised the function of the different softwares and the workflow we would take throughout the week.

Workflow from Anastasia's presentation

Software Tutorials

Starting with MakeHuman, as software it was very easy to navigate through simply changing characterics using the dragbars (see workflow video below). This Digital Body would be exported as an .stl and imported into Rhino3D.

Rhino3D

My notebook pages and screenshots from the tutorial.

Asli gave us a step by step-by-step tutorial to understand the navigation and tools within Rhino. Starting with basic squares and spheres, we learnt how to reseize, move and tranform shapes as well use the different Bolean operations. This was really good practise for us before we starting working with our digital bodies. Above are some of the notes I took and screenshots from our tutorial.

Digital Bodies into Rhino3D & Slicer

Workflow by me.

Having taken my notes, I created this workflow diagram that visually demonstrates the different stages of the process and the different tools used and how. This will be helpful to refer back to when it's not so fresh in my mind, showing the different buttons, measurements and process in general.

Slicer was also another easy software to nagivate. I learnt it was important to customize measurements and thoroughly think about the scale of the object, the angle of slices and size and placement of dowels. I got the hang of Rhino after some practise, so having experimented with different body shapes and poses, I felt ready to start with my final assignment.

Final Digital Body Assignment ¹

Inspired by Alessia Pasquini and Sara Alvarez, watch my process between MakeHuman, Rhino3D & Slicer.

Challenges I faced :

• Getting the orientation right so that when tranferred into Slicer it was facing the right way... because my MakeHuman body was facing down, when imported into Slicer it was facing down. I had to go back into Rhino and recalibrate and rotate it. I had help from Asli to do this because it was very confusing.
• Moving around Rhino took getting used to e.g. Perception within Rhino3D and getting the rectangular plains straight through from each angle.
• Remembering the sequences and to press enter. Remember to always read what Rhino is telling me to do!

The Final Slicer File ²

Ensure the dowels are the right size and in the correct place before printing. Above you can see how I edited what Slicer provided and reduced and moved the dowels to be in the place of the nipples and belly button, making them less obvious. I then used chopsticks during the assembly of the pieces to give the body more structure.

Lasercutting Tutorial

Once the Slicer file was complete and ready for the lasercutter, Asli gave us a tutorial. Below is my notebook notes from the tutorial and additional ones within my notes page. These notes were really helpful to refer back to when I was using the lasercutter for my final outcome. I made them thorough and clear for when I need them in the future. I also made this diagram below as an indicator of the safety rules and location of buttons etc.

Locations and important things to know [by me]

Lightbox navigation and figures for 3mm Cardboard [by me]

Things I learnt :

• Always triple check your dimensions before frame checking and printing. Do Ctrl A to Select All incase of small pieces outside the perimeter.
• You can make test pieces to experiment with the power and speed of the laser. Do this through different colours or through ticking the box, only print selected.
• Make sure the dowels are big enough and located correctly to ensure you get the best, most practical outcome.

Time to Assemble

The 'Assembly Steps' within Slicer and the numbered pieces were really helpful during this, especially when it came to the smaller pieces.

The Final Outcome

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Fabrication files

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1. File: Rhino3D stl file↗ ↩

2. File: Laser cut sheets (PDF) ↩

3. File: 3D scan of me↗ ↩