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Driver and passenger comfort, as related to automotive seats, is a growing issue in the automotive industry. As this trend continues, automotive seat designers and developers are generating a greater need for more anthropometrically accurate tools to aid them in their work. One tool being developed is the JOHN software program that utilizes three-dimensional solid objects to represent humans in seated postures. Contours have been developed to represent the outside skin surfaces of three different body types in a variety of postures in the sagittal plane. These body types include: the small female, the average male, and the large male.

New models are being developed to represent the geometry and movements of people in seated postures. The positions and motions of the torso skeletal structures for different amounts of lumbar curvature have been studied and represented in side view, two dimensional computer models of the average man, small woman, and large man. Some further developments for the average man include: 1. two dimensional, articulated drafting template, 2. three dimensional computer model of the skeletal system with soft tissue thicknesses added to represent the external body contours on the back of the torso, and 3. model of forces and moments between body segments based on seated posture, body segment masses, and seat surface forces. This paper describes these new biomechanical models and their potential uses in designing seats that more comfortably fit and move with people.