Role of the clothing in protection strategies and its implication for the physiological state of the wearer

摘要

Many human activities in outdoor and indoor spaces often require additional protection against adverse effects of the ambient environment (e.g. equipment, clothing, sleeping bag). One of the methods to provide an efficient barrier for excessive heat exchange and pollution ingress is wearing protective clothing, which properties should ensure protection of both health and comfort of a wearer. At the same time, garments and their volume constitute the closest microenvironment to the human body, and hence, provide the opportunity to adjust the environmental conditions efficiently right at the target instead of conditioning large volumes, e.g. large indoor spaces, warehouses, industrial spaces. This paper will present the perspective on the role of the clothing in protection strategies and its implication for the physiological state of the wearer as well as worldwide most advanced systems and methodologies for clothing research including thermo-physiological human simulators and 3D visualisation of air gaps in garments developed at Empa.