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 booth about 21/2 metres tall, click on a joystick and wait several seconds while two cameras snap their digital image and software converts it into 3-D.

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 Esquimalt, Edmonton, Trenton, Ont., and St. Jean, Que., where they capture 37 standard measurements in 40 seconds.

"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, a 43-year-old electrical engineer, and CEO of VisImage Systems Inc., in Toronto.

Technology gathers measurements for military uniforms

Canadian troops are stripping off their uniforms in a precedent- setting experiment that could ultimately provide the most detailed digital snapshot 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 booth about 21/2 metres tall, 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 a 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 Esquimalt, Edmonton, Trenton, Ont., 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, a 43-year-old electrical engineer, and CEO of VisImage Systems Inc., in Toronto.

Measurements will be 100-per-cent accurate, and instantly retrievable.

From garment sizes, military planners will be able to deduce information to improve decision-making in a range of situations. Knowing how thin or obese soldiers are from different bases, might lead to changes in menu design, for example.

"Or, 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," 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 has a cubicle for privacy, and the most sophisticated artificial intelligence, he claims.

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.

Studies in Britain and the U.S. scanned thousands of volunteers using equipment developed for the garment industry, and found astounding physical changes in the population, including rising rates of obesity.