**Virtual Garment Creation**

Ausma Viļumsone and Inga Dāboliņa

*Riga Technical University Institute of Textile Material Technologies and Design, Riga Latvia* 

#### **1. Introduction**

48 Applications of Virtual Reality

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The use of new information technologies and software provide the possibility to solve problems connected with raising work efficiency in the company (Hannelore, 1999). The first information on using information technologies in the sewing industry, particularly in construction designing, turned up in the beginning of the 70-ies of the XX century, but first publications on computer aided designing software – only in the 90-ies of the XX century. At present most of the companies use computer aided software.

Modern computer aided designing software provides the possibility to avoid small operations and manual work, to raise precision, productivity and organize information flow (Beazley, 2003). The usage of garment designing systems excludes the time consuming manual preparation of patterns, creation of layouts and relocation of written information. The computer systems are meant for the execution of every single process and the integration of all processes into one joint flow, for the organization of logistics and the mobility of work tasks.

The computerization of different processes in the garment industry is necessary to reduce the costs of a product and raise the competitiveness (Kang, 2000).

Computer systems allow making two dimensional as well as three dimensional product illustrations and visualizations (D'Apuzzo, 2009; Lectra, 2009). It is possible to create computer aided garment constructions, as well as gradations, and create a virtual first pattern of the model - such computer aided operations significantly decrease the time consumption and cost necessary to design a product. The costs of the product itself can be calculated with the help of the product management systems following the development parameters, the layout of patterns, textile expenditure, model complexity and specification, as well as previous experience of the company stored in a data base.

Although computer systems significantly facilitate the development of a product, the knowledge and skill of the user are still very important. One of the most important garment creation stages is constructing.

Constructing is the reproduction of a spatial model (clothing) on a plane (construction); this transformation has to be reflexive when joining the parts of the construction a garment is originated. The creation of the drafts of the construction is the most complicated and responsible stage of garment designing, because a non-existent complicated spatial shape

Virtual Garment Creation 51

Type 1 The construction is designed manually, but the production preparation is performed using computer technologies (manually prepared patterns are entered into the

Type 2 Manual work is completely excluded. The whole designing and preparation

Type 3 Part of the designing stages are computer aided, without human help, but the rest

The use of any kind of computerization has indisputable advantages: improved production quality, higher productivity, humanization of the working process, more elastic production, process control, the possibility to link the production with the desires of the customer (rapid response). Nevertheless each system can be improved. For a 3D imitation of a garment to adjust a parametric mannequin to the individual measures of a human body additional projection body measures have to be considered (at present only the height is integrated, but

The latest tendency in the CAD/CAM development is the creation of 3D designing. There

plane-like garment designing methods do not provide an absolute conformity of the

 the construction of garments in opposition to the object (garment) to be designed is a plane-like process – it does not provide a preview of the product. In its turn the

the 2D visualizations of the garment do not provide the evaluation of the characteristics

Although 3D designing where it is possible to create a layout of plane details by a 3D shape drawing already exists, such systems have several disadvantages: a limited assortment and

Type 1 Imitation of the garments' appearance – the system allows changing the 3D sketch or photograph to evaluate the appearance of the garments' model with visually different

Type 2 Garment imitation – the systems allows performing a virtual fitting, evaluate the external appearance, shape, set, proportions of the garment (the garment is created in 3D by joining patterns constructed in a plane, creating an imitation of the garment with the

Type 3 Garment designing – the system allows creating the shape of a garment, identify (define) dividing lines, create patterns in a 3D environment following a layout in a plane.

The apparel appearance imitation systems are suitable mainly for making catalogues and specialist communication to verify the visual conformity of the textiles with the particular model. To create the reality of the apparel perception a shading/lustre of a

intention to ascertain the conformity of the outer appearance to the expectations);

the width characterizing the configuration of transversal planes is necessary too.

preparation of patterns is an expensive and time consuming process;

Depending on the practicable task, 3D systems can be divided as follows:

are several reasons for the implementation of 3D designing:

garment with the expectations;

of textile materials.

types of textile materials;

shape of garment, segmentation.

Modern 2D CAD/CAM systems perform constructing in three ways:

system with a digitizer).

process is computer aided.

is an interactive process.

product surface layout has to be created (drawn) (Vilumsone, 1993; Koblakova, 1988). One of the most topical problems in garment designing has always been the search of garment designing methods scientifically reasoned, precise and as little as possible time and labour consuming. Several factors depend on a precise development of garment surface layout – material expenditure, garment set quality, labour intensity level, the aesthetical and hygienic characteristics of the finished product.

The traditional mass production ever decreases the volumes of series, the production becomes more elastic and the choice of goods expands; the wear time decreases. Along with the serial production, individual production becomes more and more popular. The current economic situation shifts the search for labour more and more to the East, but the creation of individually oriented products could make it possible to maintain working places and production units in Europe. People will be willing to pay more for this type of clothing and receive it in a possibly short term. Thereby the promotion of individualized production is affected by social and economic aspects.

The non-contact anthropometrical data acquisition methods are currently used to solve the problem of acquiring the clients' measures for individualized production, yet still the spread of individualized production is limited by the uniformity of assortment, the labour intensity of designing, the uncertainty of the result of the construction and the complexity of the constructing tasks creating an individual product for each customer (D'Apuzzo, 2008; Fan, 2004).

In its turn the potentialities of the virtual reality are used to create e-store offers that are more attractive to customers, create virtual twins, model fitting and the reflection of garment individualities.
