The "Body Scanning System for 21st Century," or "BoSS-21" units - - jointly developed by the Defence Department and a University of Toronto imaging researcher -- are already in use at bases in Trenton, Ont., Esquimalt, B.C., Edmonton and St. Jean, Que., where they capture 37 standard measurements in 40 seconds.

"You might need different kinds of garments in Edmonton rather than Victoria, where it's more temperate, so you'll be able to quantify how cold it is and figure out if you'll need more fleece (uniforms), and if so how much more," [Shi Yin] said.

Photo: Supplied / A Department of National Defence staff member sets up the BoSS-21 scanner, which takes precise measurements for military uniforms. ;

Digital technology means new outfits for troops will fit like a glove -- even the gloves

Canadian troops are stripping off their uniforms in a precedent- setting experiment that could ultimately provide the most detailed digital snapshot ever taken for such a large segment of Canada's population.

Technology that gathers ultra-precise measurements for military uniforms is being rolled out at bases across Canada.

Troops, clad only in their underwear, step inside a 21/2-metre- high booth, click on a joystick and wait several seconds while two cameras snap their digital image and software converts it into 3-D.

Databases containing body measurements for uniforms will be networked together, the statistics aggregated and compared.

The result will be an historic analysis of the Canadian Forces' average physique.

The "Body Scanning System for 21st Century," or "BoSS-21" units - - jointly developed by the Defence Department and a University of Toronto imaging researcher -- are already in use at bases in Trenton, Ont., Esquimalt, B.C., Edmonton and St. Jean, Que., where they capture 37 standard measurements in 40 seconds.

This fall, the Defence Department announced expansion of the program, which will see eight more systems in place at bases by 2008.

Portability will transform more than just the complicated business of provisioning 200 different uniform styles for 60,000 members of the Canadian navy, army and air force.

"You'll be able to answer questions like, 'is the navy a certain (average) size?', and contrast that with the army (from) statistics about the size and shape of (military personnel)," said the device's co-creator Shi Yin, 43-year-old electrical engineer and CEO of VisImage Systems Inc. in Toronto.

Measurements will be accurate and instantly retrievable from anywhere in the country.

From garment sizes, military planners will be able to deduce information to improve decision-making in a range of situations.

"You might need different kinds of garments in Edmonton rather than Victoria, where it's more temperate, so you'll be able to quantify how cold it is and figure out if you'll need more fleece (uniforms), and if so how much more," Yin said.

U.S. and French militaries have developed their own body scanners, but at less than $50,000, Yin's is one-fifth the price.

It's the only one with a cubicle for privacy, and has the most sophisticated artificial intelligence, he claims.

Low cost will be an advantage in wooing other organizations with large numbers of staff in uniform, such as courier companies, hospitals, postal services or police, he said.

The information is useful for everything from planning health- care spending to designing safer seatbelts or calculating the ideal distance between a car's dashboard and floor.

The strongest interest in such technology outside the military comes from government health officials, who see scanning as a cheaper, error-free way to take a physical census of citizens.

SizeUK and SizeUSA, studies carried out by the governments of Britain and the U.S. in 2001 and 2002, scanned thousands of volunteers using equipment developed for the garment industry.

They reported astounding physical changes in the population, including rising rates of obesity.

Brazil, China, Korea, Australia, France and Mexico are among nations now planning, or conducting, similar health-oriented projects.

The European Commission wants to use scanning data to standardize rules for clothing sizes across member states.

Michael Wolfson, the chief statistician for Statistics Canada who runs the health-statistics program, said Canada's federal government is considering a "low-dose" X-ray technology called Dual Energy X- Ray Absorptiometry, or DEXA, for a national survey of Canadians' physical health to begin in 2007.

The American-made equipment figures out bone density, muscle and body fat distribution, not just body shape.

Pilot tests for the upcoming National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey concluded it would be costly and difficult to truck the X-rays to clinics around the country, "but the door is not closed on that," Wolfson said.

Alternatively, statisticians will arm themselves with tape measures and calipers to try to understand shifting Canadian body types, he said.

Body scanners have also started showing up in commercial use at some retail stores in New York, as gimmicks to market better- tailored clothes.