Smile - You’re on Digital

Last winter, CFB Esquimalt was the second base in Canada installing a new digital body-scanning device to take the guesswork out of fitting clothing for the Canadian Forces. The BoSS XXI system, a touchless body-measuring device, uses two digital cameras and a computer to take accurate body measurements of CF members.

The $50,000 system was developed by Defence Research Development Canada in Toronto.

To use the system, individuals enter a private cubicle, strip down to their underwear and stand on a marked spot to be digitally scanned from both the front and side. A computer uses the digital images to calculate body dimensions.

Finally, each person receives a Personal Measurement Output Sheet that provides a silhouetted body profile, dimensions, and the most appropriate CF sizes for uniforms. The process takes six to eight minutes and once the computer has used the digital images to generate measurements, pictures are automatically deleted.

Eventually, the information collected will be stored in a database to help materiel departments accurately predict the demand for various sizes of clothing. The new system will increase overall logistic efficiency and provide improved service to members.

With about 60,000 people in the Regular Force having accurate size measurements, the CF can save time and money otherwise lost in creating un-needed sizes.

(Now, members will get the right fit without having to suffer the embarrassment of inseam measurements by the local tailor.)

— The Maple Leaf
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