• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.139-148
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• 2021

This study aimed to verify how a multisensory storytelling-based activity-based intervention affects social interaction in children with cerebral palsy. As a quasi-experimental investigation, this study used a single-blind, two-group pre-post test design. This study comprised 24 children aged 7 to 8 y who had been diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy and were classified as having GMFCS stages I to III. Twelve children were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, with neither the children nor their guardians knowing which group they were placed in. The group program comprised 16 sessions of 60 min each, twice a week for eight weeks. The experimental group engaged in an activity-centered intervention centered on multisensory storytelling, whereas the control group engaged in structured physical activity. The activities were assessed using the peer relations skills scale to determine the extent to which social interaction had changed prior to and during the child's intervention. The SPSS 25.0 for Windows (IBM Corp, USA) application was used to analyze the data, and the significance level (α) for statistical verification was set to 0.05. Furthermore, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to assess the differences in social interaction between the experimental and control groups. Significant differences were observed in the total of the peer relationship skill scale and cooperation and empathy areas of the subtest in the intragroup change of the peer relationship skill scale between the experimental and control groups. However, the experimental group demonstrated a significant difference in the initiative area, whereas the control group demonstrated no significant difference. A significant difference was observed in the amount of change between the two groups in the initiative area and total of the subtest of peer relationship skills but no significant difference in the collaboration and empathy areas. We gave a multisensory storytelling-based activity-based intervention based on multisensory storytelling to children with cerebral palsy and saw a significant improvement in peer relationship skills. It may be proposed as an effective intervention strategy for children with cerebral palsy who struggle with social contact.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.51-60
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• 2020

This study aimed to develop a modular smart clothing system for heart rate monitoring that reduces the inconvenience caused by battery charging and the large size of measurement devices. The heart rate monitoring system was modularized into a temporary device and a continuous device to enable heart rate monitoring depending on the requirement. The temporary device with near-field communication (NFC) and heart rate sensors was developed as a clothing attachment type that enables heart rate monitoring via smart phone tagging when required. The continuous device is based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication and batteries and was developed to enable continuous heart rate measurement via a direct connection to the temporary device. Furthermore, the temporary device was configured to connect with a textile electrode made of a silver-based knitted fabric designed to be located below the pectoralis major muscle for heart rate measurement. Considering the user-experience factors, key functions, and the ease of use, we developed an application to automatically log through smart phone tagging to improve usability. To evaluate the accuracy of the heart rate measurement, we recorded the heart rate of 10 healthy male subjects with a modular smart clothing system and compared the results with the heart rate values measured by the Polar RS800. Consequently, the average heart rate value measured by the temporary system was 85.37, while that measured by the reference device was 87.03, corresponding to an accuracy of 96.73%. No significant difference was found in comparison with the reference device (T value = -1.892, p = .091). Similarly, the average heart rate measured by the continuous system was 86.00, while that measured by the reference device was 86.97, corresponding to an accuracy of 97.16%. No significant difference was found in terms of the heart rate value between the two signals (T value = 1.089, p = .304). The significance of this study is to develop and validate a modular clothing system that can measure heart rates according to the purpose of the user. The developed modular smart clothing system for heart rate monitoring enables dual product planning by reducing the price increase due to unnecessary functions.