• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.319-328
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• 2019

This study investigated the needs assessment of health education for adults with lately visual impairments. Focus group interview was conducted two times with 10 participants(4~6 participants/each). Most subjects addressed to have interest in social support group; health promotion behavior including exercise and having a positive mind; taking the medicine/supplements. Preferred contents of health education for adults with lately visual impairments were overcoming the depression, various exercise, maintaining of the healthy vascular, overcoming the insomnia, joint health, and diet which was different according to subject's health status. Also, care giver education was needed to help the subject to be independent on the activity daily living. These findings will be used to develop the design of health education programs for adults with visual impairments.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.260-271
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• 2020

Smartphones provide blind users with screenreader as an accessibility tool. However, blind users often experience difficulties accessing online shopping malls via smartphones due to their inconsistent and image-based layouts. To enable screenreader users to get access to the detailed information about products while they are shopping online, we have developed BarrierFreeShop, an accessible mobile shopping application for people with visual impairments. BarrierFreeShop has three accessibility features: (1) layout automation, (2) review summarization, and (3) optical character recognition. We conducted a user study with 80 participants with visual impairments where they were asked to use BarrierFreeShop for a month. The findings revealed the effectiveness of our app in terms of speed and post interview feedback. We have also discovered typical shopping experiences that participants had during the test. This research suggests that computer vision technologies can improve accessibility issues in online shopping malls. In addition, we have confirmed that extracting contents from images help people with visual impairments to get better access to product information.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Interior Design Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.145-148
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• 2007

The people shares the street with various activities. The colour-blind also shares this public space of the city. But, the colour-blind is difficult to feel and act as the normal people, because of their limited visual ability. The purpose of this research is to suggest the color matching codes of the city for the colour-blind adopting the NCS color system. This research analyzes the result of the simulation with color programs. This paper discusses ways of improving city color planning towards the public environment for all people, especially the colour-blind.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.1-10
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• 2024

Individuals with visual impairments face numerous challenges in their daily lives, with navigating streets and public spaces being particularly daunting. The inability to identify safe crossing locations and assess the feasibility of crossing significantly restricts their mobility and independence. Globally, an estimated 285 million people suffer from visual impairment, with 39 million categorized as blind and 246 million as visually impaired, according to the World Health Organization. In Saudi Arabia alone, there are approximately 159 thousand blind individuals, as per unofficial statistics. The profound impact of visual impairments on daily activities underscores the urgent need for solutions to improve mobility and enhance safety. This study aims to address this pressing issue by leveraging computer vision and deep learning techniques to enhance object detection capabilities. Two models were trained to detect objects: one focused on street crossing obstacles, and the other aimed to search for objects. The first model was trained on a dataset comprising 5283 images of road obstacles and traffic signals, annotated to create a labeled dataset. Subsequently, it was trained using the YOLOv8 and YOLOv5 models, with YOLOv5 achieving a satisfactory accuracy of 84%. The second model was trained on the COCO dataset using YOLOv5, yielding an impressive accuracy of 94%. By improving object detection capabilities through advanced technology, this research seeks to empower individuals with visual impairments, enhancing their mobility, independence, and overall quality of life.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2016

The purpose of the study is to identify the usability of OpenCouresWare(OCW) from the perspective of students with visual and hearing impairments. Twelve college students with disabilities(8 visual and 4 hearing impairment) implemented usability testing. Two modules in both edX and KOCW were selected for testing. Students with disabilities implemented usability testing and then each individual case was analyzed through quantitative and qualitative methods. As results, the degree of general usability in both edX and KOCW indicated an average level and the degree of accessibility in edX module was evaluated higher than KOCW. Specifically, the module of edX was rated highly by students with hearing impairments and the usability level of KOCW module was highly appreciated by blind students.

• 재활복지
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.27-46
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to develop tool for the assessment of employment preparedness for people with visual impairments. First, we developed a draft assessment factors. Expert opinion survey, delphi survey, pilot test were conducted to modify contents of the factors. Actual assessments were carried out to test the reliability and validity of the developed tool targeting job seeker with visual disabilities. The total number of valid samples are 253. Principal component analysis, confirmatory factors analysis, and correlation analysis were used for the validity test. Chronbach' alpha analysis was used for the reliability test. As a result of the reliability analysis, the reliability coefficient showed good level of 0.88-0.92. As a result of the factor analysis, it was confirmed that the composition concept of 9 factors were well reflected. The correlation coefficient between employment preparedness tool and job screening tool was 0.501, Which was statistically significant. Therefore, it was evaluated as having a concurrent validity. Finally, it was confirmed that the assessment of employment preparedness for people with visual impairments was valid as assessment tool.

• Journal of Naturopathy
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.46-56
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• 2020

Purpose: This study proposes a concert oriented music therapy (COMT) program which takes into account the personal and social factors of depression, and its clinical effects were validated on elderly persons with visual impairments who were susceptible to depression. The experiment was conducted on 34 elderly persons with visual impairments, randomly allocated to either the experimental group (n = 15) or the control group (n = 19). The COMT program was applied 20 times in total to the experimental group for 110 minutes every other week, for a duration of 10 months. The depression level was evaluated using the Korean form of the Geriatric Depression Scale (KGDS). The experimental results showed that the average KGDS score in the experimental group decreased by 4.1 points (19.4%), from 21.0 to 16.9, whereas it increased by 1.16 points (5.8%), from 19.95 to 21.11, in the control group. The reduction in the depression level was significant for the following 4 depression factors : decreased social interest (40%), negative thinking and the unhappiness feeling (20%), emotional discomfort (16.3%), and cognitive dysfunction (7.6%), whereas it was negligible in the factors of physical weakening and decreased vitality. The COMT program reduced the KGDS scores of the experimental group regardless of their experience in musical performance. In conclusion, the proposed COMT program proved to be efficacious in alleviating depression in elderly persons with visual impairments. In particular, it proved highly effective in helping with decreased social interest, namely, the social factor of depression which is not properly considered in existing music therapy methods.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.41-60
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• 2016

This study investigated how people who became blind midway through life used music and how these uses differed according to individual factors. Sixty-one late-blind adults aged 40 to 60 years attending six welfare centers for the blind in Seoul and Gyeonggi region participated in this research. Participants were asked to complete a 25-question survey in Braille on music utilization and preference, as well as the purpose of music utilization. The response rate was 87.1%. The results were as follows. First, with regard to listening preference, they reported preferring to listen to upbeat popular music on the radio when resting at home. They liked to sing along to lyrics reminiscent of personal memories. String instruments were preferred when playing an instrument. With regard to the reason for using music, inducing mood change was found to be the biggest reason, followed by seeking enjoyment, comfort, sense of achievement, and sense of belonging. Third, for people with adventitious visual impairments, individual factors, such as gender, level of disability, and period without eyesight, did not reveal any significant differences. Last, participants were found to obtain a higher sense of belonging through music compared to those having low vision. Regarding time without eyesight, it appeared that the shorter the period, the higher the sense of belonging participants had from utilizing music, and vice versa. This study provides fundamental information for organizing an effective music program that can meet the needs and demands of people with adventitious visual impairments.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.243-256
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to perform a content analysis on 62 domestic and international journals from 1998 to 2017, in order to review research trends in music and people with visual impairments. The framework of the content analysis was based on the year of publication, field of journal, research method, type of research, research subject, participants' age, and factors of impairment. The results showed that both domestic and international journals have rapidly increased in the last 10 years, and have expanded into the fields of education and therapy. In the research method, survey research was conducted much more frequently in domestic journals, while both qualitative and experimental research were employed on a roughly even basis in international journals. With respect to the type and subject of research, music perception and recent trends on the subject of musical interest and aptitude took up the majority of domestic journals, while international journals focused on music intervention, music perception and cognition with musical influences and experiences. The participants in both domestic and international journals were children, adolescents and adults, while the elderly were not observed. In the factors of impairment, research on people with total blindness or low vision were conducted frequently, but those with adventitious vision loss or multiple impairments were rarely performed. This study could be meaningful to suggest the direction of further studies, through the investigation of research trends in music and people with visual impairments.

• 재활복지
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.1-29
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• 2016

The research regarding employees' job satisfaction is one of the most important indicators of their vocational adjustment or outcome. The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of job satisfaction of South Korean masseurs with visual impairments and what variables predict to this. The work satisfaction model of Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent Brown, 2006a) was grounded. a total of 221 South Korean masseurs with visual impairments participated in this study. Multiple regression analysis indicated that as masseurs in this study experienced having a better fit with their job regarding their monetary aspects, as they felt efficacious with their massage skills, as they felt more positive, and as they considered their job duties fit their education or skills they learned, their level of job satisfaction was higher. However, fit with their organization values or cultures or how much they get social support from their family, friends, or significant others did not predict their job satisfaction. In addition, the analysis supported the existence of a moderating effect of positive affect on the relationship between subjective fit and job satisfaction, in addition to the moderating effect of social support on the relationship between work related self-efficacy and job satisfaction among study participants. Implications for policy makers, researchers, and career counselors were also provided.