Abstract: A method for extracting information about a body's skeleton from a 3D body mesh includes measuring the closest distance from every vertex of the 3-D body mesh to the centroid of the 3-D body mesh and using these measurements to compute a geodesic map of these distances. Key anchors are then extracted from the geodesic map. The geodesic map and the key anchors are used to segment the 3-D body mesh into body parts. A circumference of each body part is computed, and a centroid of the circumference is determined. For each body part, a body mean curve along the centroid is determined. Skeleton joints between the body parts and connections between these joints are determined. A 3-D body scanner employing this skeleton estimation method is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method for extracting information about a body's skeleton from a 3D body mesh includes measuring the closest distance from every vertex of the 3-D body mesh to the centroid of the 3-D body mesh and using these measurements to compute a geodesic map of these distances. Key anchors are then extracted from the geodesic map. The geodesic map and the key anchors are used to segment the 3-D body mesh into body parts. A circumference of each body part is computed, and a centroid of the circumference is determined. For each body part, a body mean curve along the centroid is determined. Skeleton joints between the body parts and connections between these joints are determined. A 3-D body scanner employing this skeleton estimation method is also disclosed.