Traditional methods in sport and exercise science enable us to measure total body volume (i.e., how much space your body occupies), but not how that volume is distributed across your body. However, the advent of three-dimensional (3D) surface scanning technology now enables the shape and size of the body to be captured in 3D, providing many exciting possibilities. This technique has an innovative application within drowning prevention and water safety research work.

Imagine looking at a photograph of a human body. A photo flattens the body into two dimensions (2D), capturing one perspective at a single instant in time. Whilst a photo gives you a sense of size and shape, it doesn’t fully capture the body’s complexity in the three-dimensional (3D) world we live in. In contrast, a 3D surface scan replicates the body in its most true-to-life form at a single instant in time.

I am a part of a research team from Leeds Trinity University who, as part of a series of studies, have scanned people of different shapes and sizes and measured their body types. We recently combined this work with practical tests at a swimming pool, which involved weighing our participants in air and underwater, and measuring their physical work during floating activities. This enabled us to investigate how body type influences the economy of staying afloat on your back with your mouth and nose clear of the water. Using our scans and based on some principles established by Archimedes, we can estimate where the waterline would be relative to the mouth and nose, which may influence the actions needed to keep them clear of the water.

Floating on your back is central to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)’s “Float to Live” water safety advice, a set of self-rescue instructions you can use to reduce the risk of inhaling water during the first few minutes after entering cold water, when breathing may be uncontrollable (sometimes called cold shock). Adopting this position if you fall into water or feel tired in water can reduce the chances of drowning (RNLI, 2024). This advice was informed by research conducted by Professor Mike Tipton, Dr Heather Massey and colleagues at the University of Portsmouth’s Extreme Environments Laboratory (EEL) and Professor Martin Barwood (formerly of the University of Portsmouth’s EEL and now based at Leeds Trinity University).

We have conducted these studies at Leeds Trinity University with a view to contributing to the evidence base underpinning the advice and optimising how to float as the initial means of self-rescue in water. We now look forward to writing up these studies and sharing our findings.

We employed an Artec Eva 3D surface scanner, supplied by Central Scanning Ltd, UK—the same model used to create the first 3D portrait of a US president. We received training from Central Scanning and a colleague at the University of York, enabling us to perform these scans.

To find out more about this research or 3D scanning, contact Thomas at [email protected].

Thomas Wild is a PhD student in the School of Sport and Wellbeing at Leeds Trinity University. He is interested in the application of 3D scanning in ergonomics, sport and exercise science and allied disciplines.