Talking heads

Oohhh....what will they measure next?

The project "head" is a Professor Ball.

I'm full of bad puns this morning.

Why western shapes don't fit Chinese heads
South China Morning Post
September 18, 2007

A research project which measured the head shapes of 2,000 Chinese appears to have unlocked the mystery of why some products, like eyeglasses and safety helmets, do not fit Chinese users.

This is because the head of an average Chinese is rounder and higher than that of a westerner, according to the 18-month study.

Chinese heads are also smaller, usually measuring 540mm in circumference, compared with the 570mm western head. And the upper, rear section is much flatter.

The information, collected by a research team at the Polytechnic University's school of design, is arguably the world's first comprehensive databank of Chinese head sizes and facial features.

While the findings may sound trivial to some, the data has potentially huge implications for product makers targeting the Chinese.

Hats, glasses and even facemasks are made to fit western faces and heads, and often the physiology of Chinese consumers is not considered.

"Baseball caps sometimes sit awkwardly on Chinese heads. It is not about size, but the shape, because Chinese heads are higher," said Roger Ball, leader of the project SizeChina.com and assistant professor of the school of design.

"Understanding human size and shape is the cornerstone for designing successful consumer products, because every product relies on accurate fitting," said Professor Ball.

"Designers, engineers and architects need sophisticated data on head and face shapes to design best-selling products. How well a product fits us is the most important part of any successful design."

Working with local universities and community centres, the team collected head details from more than 2,000 volunteers aged 18 to 70.

A 360-degree rotary laser scanner was used to take readings of their heads.

The project began in April last year, with nearly HK$4.5 million funding from the government's Innovation and Technology Commission under the project titled "Perfect fit China".

Professor Ball, a sports safety products designer from Canada, developed an interest in the shapes and features of Asian heads after meeting a Japanese sales representative 10 years ago over poor response to helmets he had designed.

"I was told the shape of the helmet was not right, it was too tight a fit on the sides of the head," he said.

In compiling the data, the researchers visited six cities - Beijing, Hangzhou , Guangzhou, Lanzhou , Chongqing and Shenyang . Professor Ball said these were representative cities in the northern, eastern, southern and western parts of the mainland.

The project's technology supervisor, Chan Wai-yin, said they might consider a project to measure Chinese hands.