• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.739-747
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• 2011

Objective: The present study evaluated information presentation methods applicable to a wearable Braille display in terms of performance and satisfaction measures. Background: A Braille display wearable at a finger can improve accessibility of information for the blind by presenting information in real time. Method: A Braille display with six pins operated by DC servomotors was developed to simulate four information presentation methods(active, stationary, simultaneous, and sequential methods). An evaluation experiment was conducted with 16 participants(8 normal and 8 blind participants) by using three objective measures(reaction time, RT, unit: sec; recognition time, CT, unit: sec; correct response percentage, CP) and two subjective measures(overall satisfaction, OS; perception easiness, PE) with a 7-point scale. Results: The average RTs and CTs of the active and stationary methods were significantly shorter than those of the simultaneous and sequential methods for the blind participants. Also, the average CPs, OSs, and PEs of the active and sequential methods were significantly higher than those of the stationary and simultaneous methods. Conclusion: The active and sequential methods were preferred to the other methods for the blind. Application: The performance characteristics identified in the present study for the four braille display methods can be utilized to develop an effective wearable Braille display system.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06b
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• pp.277-282
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• 2001

As human-friendly robot techniques improve, the concept of the wearability of robotic arms becomes important. A master arm that detects human arm motion and provides virtual forces to the operator is an embodied concept of a wearable robotic arm. In this study, we design a 7 DOF wearable robotic arm with high joint torques. An operator wearing this robotic arm can move around freely because this robotic arm was designed to have its fixed point at the shoulder part of the operator. The proposed robotic arm uses parallel mechanisms at the shoulder part and the wrist part on the model of the human muscular structure of an upper limb. To reduce the computational load in solving the forward kinematics and to prevent singularity motions of the parallel mechanism, yawing motion of the parallel mechanisms was separated using a slip ling mechanism. The total weight of the proposed robotic arm is about 4 kg. An experimental result of force tracking test for the pneumatic control system and an application example for VR robot are described to show the validity of the robot.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.278-283
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• 2018

Nowdays, many people suffer from the neck pain due to forward head posture(FHP) and text neck(TN). To assess the severity of the FHP and TN the craniovertebral angle(CVA) is used in clinincs. However, it is difficult to monitor the neck posture using the CVA in daily life. We propose a new method using the cervical flexion angle(CFA) obtained from a wearable sensor to monitor neck posture in daily life. 15 participants were requested to pose FHP and TN. The CFA from the wearable sensor was compared with the CVA observed from a 3D motion camera system to analyze their correlation. The determination coefficients between CFA and CVA were 0.80 in TN and 0.57 in FHP, and 0.69 in TN and FHP. From the monitoring the neck posture while using laptop computer for 20 minutes, this wearable sensor can estimate the CVA with the mean squared error of 2.1 degree.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1178-1188
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• 2020

This study obtains preliminary data through a multifaceted examination of work undertaken by soldiers and factors that should be considered in the development of wearable robots; in addition, the study explores the development direction for such robots in this segment. This study conducted a survey on males who had military experience in order to analyze work practices. The results of the survey indicate that there has been an existing need for wearable robots for soldiers and that soldiers prefer robots equipped with functions to support specific physical activities and those that offer comfort while being worn. In addition, it was found that the method to wear robots should be developed according to the body part that considered movements performed by soldiers. It was also found that strengthening functionality over aesthetic factors is extremely important. Soldiers desired wearable robots that could assist their main activities, protect their bodies, and incorporated an excellent system in terms of wearability.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.667-670
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• 2007

Wellness monitoring is a growing area that will benefit from the use of wearable computing systems. The purpose of this study is to implement the wearable ECG monitoring system for ubiquitous healthcare. This paper presents a prototype wearable wellness monitoring system capable of measuring, transmitting and analyzing continuous ECG data. The hardware system allows data to be transmitted wirelessly from chest belt type sensors to a server PC using Zigbee. We conducted experiments using the system for ECG monitoring and medical screening tests and present preliminary data and results.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.3064-3082
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• 2023

During the last decade, several Electronic Orientation Aids devices have been proposed to solve the autonomy problems of visually impaired people. When hearing is considered the primary sense for Visually Impaired people (VI) and it is generally loaded with the environment, the use of tactile sense can be considered a solution to transmit directional information. This paper presents a new wearable haptic system based on four motors implemented in shoes, while six directions can be played. This study aims to introduce an interface design and investigate an appropriate means of spatial information delivery through haptic sense. The first experiment of the proposed system was performed with 15 users in an indoor environment. The results showed that the users were able to recognize, with high accuracy, the directions displayed on their feet. The second experiment was conducted in an outdoor environment with five blindfolded users who were guided along 120 meters. The users, guided only by the haptic system, successfully reached their destinations. The potential of tactile-foot stimulation to help VI understand Electronic Orientation Aids (EOA) instructions was discussed, and future challenges were defined.

• KIPS Transactions on Computer and Communication Systems
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.271-280
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• 2017

In this paper, we propose a new safety system composed of wearable devices, driver's seat belt, and integrating controllers. The wearable device and driver's seat belt capture driver's biological information, while the integrating controller analyzes captured signal to alarm the driver or directly control the car appropriately according to the status of the driver. Previous studies regarding driver's safety from driver's seat, steering wheel, or facial camera to capture driver's physiological signal and facial information had difficulties in gathering accurate and continuous signals because the sensors required the upright posture of the driver. Utilizing wearable sensors, however, our proposed system can obtain continuous and highly accurate signals compared to the previous researches. Our advanced wearable apparatus features a sensor that measures the heart rate, skin conductivity, and skin temperature and applies filters to eliminate the noise generated by the automobile. Moreover, the acceleration sensor and the gyro sensor in our wearable device enable the reduction of the measurement errors. Based on the collected bio-signals, the criteria for identifying the driver's condition were presented. The accredited certification body has verified that the devices has the accuracy of the level of medical care. The laboratory test and the real automobile test demonstrate that our proposed system is good for the measurement of the driver's condition.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.91-100
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• 2009

In this paper, we propose a wearable augmented reality system using gaze interaction. Gaze interaction has been considered to be the potential of easy, natural and fast way of interaction and becomes a suitable way in optical see-through HMD based wearable AR. Our system recognizes user's gaze point, half blink motion and displays the information of object seen by user to HMD. Half blink selection technique avoids the Midas touch problem and represents user's intention correctly. We've developed a AR annotation system and estimated the usability of gaze interaction. The accuracy and robustness of our technique is verified on the experimental results.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.176-183
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• 2009

This paper proposes command signal generating method for a wearable robot using the force as the input signal. The basic concept of this system pursues the combination of the natural and sophisticated intelligence of human with the powerful motion capability of the robot. We define a task for the command signal generation to operate with the human body simultaneously, paying attention to comfort and ease of wear. In this study, we suggest a basic exoskeleton experimental system to evaluate a HRI(Human Robot Interface), selecting interfaces of arm braces on both wrists and a weight harness on the torso to connect the robot and human. We develop the HRI to provide a command for the robot motion. It connects between the human and the robot with the multi-axis load-cell, and it measures the relative force between the human and the robot. The control system calculates the trajectory of end-effector using this force signal. In this paper, we verify the performance of proposed system through the motion of elbow E/F(Extension/Flexion), the shoulder E/F and the shoulder Ab/Ad (Abduction/Adduction).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1224-1239
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• 2020

This study develops a wearable solar energy harvesting device that absorbs solar energy to generate and store power which can be used during outdoor activities by users even after dark. For this study, a prototype hat for outdoor activities at night was developed after the design of a solar energy harvesting generation, storage, and delivery system was designed that could store energy to light up LEDs. First, the main control board of the system was designed to integrate the charging function, the darkness detection circuit, the battery voltage sensing circuit, and the LED driving circuit in order to reduce bulkiness and minimize the connection structure. It was designed to increase convenience. Second, the system was designed as a wearable fashion product that connected each part with fiber bands and manufacturing it so as to be detachable from the hat. Third, charging and LED operation tests show that the battery is fully charged after 5 hours even in winter when the illuminance value is low. In addition, the LED operation experiment verified the effectiveness of a buffered system that could operate the LEDs for about 3 hours at night.