• 대한인간공학회지
• /
• 제29권6호
• /
• pp.831-841
• /
• 2010

Usability evaluation of physical products involves characterizing complex physical interactions between humans and products. Human models known as manikins have been widely utilized as usability evaluation tools for automobile interior package design. When combined with computer-aided design software programs, such manikins can be used to simulate driving postures and evaluate driver-interior fits early in the design process, and therefore, may greatly facilitate achieving high-quality design in a cost-efficient manner. The purpose of this study was to define a set of manikins for designing automobile interior packages for the South Korean male population. These manikins were conceptualized as "boundary" manikins, which represent individuals lacking in certain physical capacities or having usability-related issues (e.g., an individual with the 5th percentile forward reach capability, an individual with the 95th percentile shoulder width). Such boundary manikins can serve as an efficient tool for determining if an automobile interior design accommodates the majority of the population. The boundary manikins were selected from the large sample of Korean males whose anthropometric dimensions were described in the recent Size Korea anthropometric database. For each male in the database, his comfortable driving posture was represented using a kinematic body linkage model and various physical capacity measured and usability-related characteristics relevant to driver accommodation were evaluated. For each such measure, a boundary manikin was selected among the Korean males. The manikins defined in this study are expected to serve as tools for ergonomic design of automobile interior packages. The manikin selection method developed in this study was implemented as a generic software program useful for various product design applications.