• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.155-164
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• 2021

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation and virtual reality program application on cognition and depression of patients with mild cognitive impairment, and to find an intervention method that can enhance active participation of patients with mild cognitive impairment. Methods : In this study, 50 mild cognitive impairment patients were divided into a treatment group (25 patients) and a control group (25 patients). The treatment group was applied with a transcranial direct current stimulation and a virtual reality program, while the control group received a placebo transcranial direct current stimulation and a virtual reality program. Both groups received five 50-minute sessions per week (one session per day) for six weeks (total of 30 sessions). NCSE was used to evaluate the cognitive functions of the patients before and after treatment intervention. Moreover, K-BDI was conducted to examine the depression of the patients. Results : As a result of the transcranial direct current stimulation and a virtual reality program intervention, the cognitive function of both treatment and control group significantly (p<.05) improved, and the depression of both treatment and control group significantly (p<.05) decreased. Moreover, the changes in cognitive functions and depression were significant between the two groups¸ treatment and control group (p<.05). Conclusion : The results of the study showed that the application of the transcranial direct current stimulation and virtual reality program significantly improved the cognitive function of mild cognitive impairment patients and decreased the depression of them. Therefore, it could be concluded that the transcranial direct current stimulation and virtual reality program was an intervention method which positively affects the cognitive function and depression of mild cognitive impairment patients.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.75-100
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• 2022

Purpose Recently, hyper-realistic virtual influencers have received much attention in the field of corporate marketing. However, there is a lack of research that suggests specific processes affecting behavioral intentions through trust and attachment between virtual influencers and consumers. In addition, previous studies have failed to consider the characteristics of hyper-realistic virtual influencers. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of trust and attachment to hyper-realistic virtual influencers on consumers' behavioral intentions based on the trust-building model. Design/methodology/approach Based on the previous research, seven antecedent factors for trust-building were derived: Reality, Attractiveness, Awareness, Interactivity, Professionalism, Social Presence, and Predictability. Next, the survey was conducted on Chinese people who had experienced interacting with hyper-realistic virtual influencers on social network services within the last 3 months at the time of data collection. A total of 326 respondents were used for the final analysis and hypotheses were tested using a structural equation model technique. Findings The results of this study are as follows. First, this study confirmed that reality, attractiveness, awareness, social presence, and predictability as antecedent factors for trust-building of hyper-realistic virtual influencers have a positive effect on trust. Second, this study confirmed that trust in hyper-realistic virtual influencers has a significant positive effect on attachment. Lastly, this study confirmed that trust and attachment to the hyper-realistic virtual influencer significantly and positively affect relationship retention and purchase intentions.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.261-268
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• 2022

Recently, the number of elderly living alone suffering from loneliness and depression is also increasing significantly due to the rapid aging of the population and nuclear families. In this paper, we propose a smart aging system that increases life satisfaction by providing the elderly with the optimal service tailored to the elderly with the help of IT according to their residential environment and health status. It is possible to provide an advanced customized support system for the elderly by fully utilizing IoT, AI, and Metaverse techniques not only for the elderly who want to live an active life in society but also for the elderly who need care in a nursing hospital. The proposed system provides human satisfaction by providing social connection in real space and virtual space in accordance with the residential environment and health status to the elderly suffering from loneliness in hospital (hospital care) facilities and at home. This paper proposes a new path for future-oriented welfare policy for the elderly by providing a user-customized smart aging system by combining AI and Metaverse technology with a rapidly changing social environment.

• Journal of Practical Engineering Education
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.361-366
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• 2022

Recently, with the development of virtual and augmented reality technology, metaverse is emerging as a new paradigm that will lead the next-generation internet era, and social and economic activities are spreading around the game, entertainment, music, and content industries. Moreover, as non-face-to-face conversion accelerated after the outbreak of COVID-19, lifestyles and industrial sites are becoming untact and further rapidly becoming a metaverse. In particular, the application of metaverse to the education field is attracting attention because realistic classes using real-time voice conversations using avatars, 3D objects, and 360-degree images can increase immersion and overcome the limitations of distance education. This study examines the concept of metaverse and examines that education using metaverse can be an alternative that can increase the efficiency of education in the non-face-to-face era. In particular, it shows that it is effective in language education and suggests an actual metaverse-based Korea language education program.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.215-224
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• 2021

Business stakeholders have shown huge interests on the way how to increase business value by integrating real world businesses with a rising metaverse concept. To understanding the utility of metaverse regarding digital transformation, this study conducted a qualitative study based on a metaverse framework from 2006 Metaverse Roadmap and reference theories on business models. Specifically, a multiple comparative case approach was adopted to investigate three metaverse application cases from 2000 to 2020. From findings, it was revealed that different metaverse features were tried to leverage traditional simulation games, social communities, and virtual communication activities to build business models. Secondly, the use of metaverse features were likely to be helpful in getting competitive advantages. However, we are also aware that stakeholder credibility should be carefully managed to sustain businesses.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.81-87
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• 2022

In this paper, we propose diffraction-based sound control method to improve sound immersion in a virtual environment. The proposed technique can express the wave and flow of sound in a physical environment and a pattern similar to diffraction in real-time. Our approach determines whether there is an obstacle from the location of the sound source and then calculates the position of the new sound reflected and diffracted by the obstacle. Based on ray tracing, it determines whether or not it collides with an obstacle, and predicts the sound level of the agent behind the obstacle by using the vector reflected and refraction by the collision. In this process, the sound attenuation according to the distance/material is modeled by attenuating the size of the sound according to the number of reflected/refracted rays. As a result, the diffraction pattern expressed in the physics-based approach was expressed in real time, and it shows that the diffraction pattern also changes as the position of the obstacle is changed, thereby showing the result of naturally spreading the size of the sound. The proposed method restores the diffusion and diffraction characteristics of sound expressed in real life almost similarly.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.531-539
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• 2022

The government enforced policies such as social distancing and limiting business hours to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, the impact of the long-term COVID-19 pandemic is causing more serious difficulties for small business owners. The government intended to relieve the business management pressure for small business owners by drawing up the COVID-19 emergency disaster relief funds. The funds provided temporary support for the small business owners, but the prolonged pandemic worsened the business management difficulties. Therefore, this study will apply fixes that fail and shifting the burden archetypes from the system archetype of system thinking for the exploratory deduction of policy measures as the policy leverage to effectively enhance the recovery of small business owners. In response to the situation, emergency financial aid for small business owners and support that can enhance the self-sustaining powers are required to heighten the recovery of small business owners.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.233-246
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• 2022

Purpose : The study aims to determine the effects of virtual and non-virtual realities in a normal person's mirror walk on gait characteristics. Methods : Twenty male adults (Age: 27.8 ± 5.8 years) participated in the study. Reflection markers were attached to the subjects for motion analysis, and they walked in virtual reality environments with mirrors by wearing goggles that showed them the virtual environments. After walking in virtual environments, the subjects walked in non-virtual environments with mirrors a certain distance away after taking a 5 min break. To prevent the order effect caused by the experiential difference of gait order, the subjects were randomly classified into groups of 10 and the order was differentiated. During each walk, an infrared camera was used to detect motion and the marker positions were saved in real time. Results : Comparison between the virtual and non-virtual reality mirror walks showed that the movable range of the leg joints (ankle, knee, and hip joints), body joints (sacroiliac and atlantoaxial joints), and arm joints (shoulder and wrist joints) significantly differed. Temporal characteristics showed that compared to non-virtual gaits, the virtual gaits were slower and the cycle time and double limb support time of virtual gaits were longer. Furthermore, spacial characteristics showed that compared to non-virtual gaits, virtual gaits had shorter steps and stride lengths and longer stride width and horizontally longer center of movement. Conclusion : The reduction in the joint movement in virtual reality compared to that in non-virtual reality is due to adverse effects on balance and efficiency during walking. Moreover, the spatiotemporal characteristics change based on the gait mechanisms for balance, exhibiting that virtual walks are more demanding than non-virtual walks. However, note that the subject group is a normal group with no abnormalities in gait and balance and it is unclear whether the decrease in performance is due to the environment or fear. Therefore, the effects of the subject group's improvement and fear on the results need to be analyzed in future studies.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2022

Recently, Google MedeiaPipe presents a novel approach for neural network-based hair segmentation from a single camera input specifically designed for real-time, mobile application. Though neural network related to hair segmentation is relatively small size, it produces a high-quality hair segmentation mask that is well suited for AR effects such as a realistic hair recoloring. However, it has undesirable segmentation effects according to hair styles or in case of containing noises and holes. In this study, the energy function of the test image is constructed according to the estimated prior distributions of hair location and hair color likelihood function. It is further optimized according to graph cuts algorithm and initial hair region is obtained. Finally, clustering algorithm and image post-processing techniques are applied to the initial hair region so that the final hair region can be segmented precisely. The proposed method is applied to MediaPipe hair segmentation pipeline.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2023

Purpose : This study evaluated the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation and a virtual reality program on the depression, hand functions, cognitive function, and activities of daily living of patients with mild cognitive impairment by dividing 20 patients with mild cognitive impairment and depression. The 20 patients were divided into a treatment group (transcranial direct current stimulation + a virtual reality program) and a control group (placebo transcranial direct current stimulation + a placebo virtual reality program). Methods : This study allocated ten subjects to the treatment group and ten subjects to the control group. The treatment was given five times per week for six weeks (30 sessions), and each session was 30 minutes. This study screened depression by using SGDS-K, a short geriatric depression scale, to examine depression before and after treatment intervention. This study also used the box and block test, NCSE, and FIM to evaluate hand functions, cognitive function, and activities of daily living, respectively. Results : The results showed that depression significantly decreased, hand functions significantly increased, cognitive function significantly improved, and activities of daily living significantly increased after intervention in the treatment and control groups. The magnitude of changes in depression, hand functions, cognitive function, and activities of daily living was significantly different between the two groups after intervention (p>.05). Conclusion : The results showed that the application of transcranial direct current stimulation and a virtual reality program could improve cognitive function, hand functions, and activities of daily living by decreasing depression. Therefore, it can be concluded that the simultaneous application of transcranial direct current stimulation and a virtual reality program is an intervention method, which can be applied for decreasing depression, enhancing hand functions, improving cognitive function, and increasing activities of daily living in patients with mild cognitive impairment.