A virtual skin for in-depth modeling of body–clothing interaction

Purpose This study aims to address the limitations of treating human skin as a rigid body in existing body–clothing interaction models. A deformable virtual skin model has been introduced to more realistically simulate the complex, bidirectional mechanical interactions between the body and clothing, thereby enhancing the accuracy of apparel comfort assessment and virtual try-ons. Design/methodology/approach A virtual skin model composed of minute tetrahedral elements is constructed, with volume and shape constraints applied to simulate the biomechanical properties of the skin. By introducing an adjustable retention factor, the model can reflect the varying tightness of skin across different body regions. A mass-spring system was used for the fabric model, and a spatial hashing algorithm coupled with a momentum redistribution mechanism was implemented to efficiently and realistically handle the contact, collision and pressure transmission between the skin and fabric. Finally, the model's validity was verified by comparing the simulated pressure with real-world sensor data. Findings The experimental results demonstrate that, compared to the traditional rigid skin model (with an error of 33.20%), the flexible skin model using a uniform retention factor significantly reduces the error between simulated and real pressure to 17.72%. Furthermore, by assigning different retention factors to various body parts (e.g. chest, shoulders) to simulate regional skin property differences, the error was further reduced to 8.92%. This confirms that region-specific skin parameters more accurately reflect the actual body–clothing interaction. Originality/value This study presents a pioneering contribution by introducing and validating a dynamically deformable skin model for clothing simulation, supplanting the conventional rigid-body paradigm. By incorporating a retention factor and a bidirectional interaction mechanism, this model more precisely captures the complex deformation of skin under pressure, significantly improving the accuracy of clothing pressure prediction, thereby providing a more solid theoretical and technical foundation for the application of virtual simulation in apparel engineering, wearable technology and medical textiles.