Yong-Ku Kong

Evaluation of Main Factors Affecting on the Legibility of One-Syllable Korean Characters and Numbers

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to evaluate the legibility of on e-syllable Korean characters with the participation of sixteen subjects. The experiment considered nine factors including age (young and old), gender (male and female), illuminance (150lx and 600lx), viewing distance (50cm and 200cm), material type (paper and LCD), typeface (Ming and Gothic), thickness (plain and bold), color contrast (black letter/white background and white letter/black background), and complexity (simple, complex, and number) to examine main effects with a 2 6-3 ×3 fractional factorial design. The dependent variables were minimum character size of 100% correctness, maximum character size of 0% correctness, and minimum character size of comfortable reading preference. The results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that age, illuminance, viewing distance and complexity were significant for all dependent variables, except gender which was significant only for the minimum character size of comfortable reading preference. In general, the young could see twofold smaller size letters than the elderly. The subjects could see smaller sized letters with the illuminance of 600lx and viewing distance of 50cm than 150lx and 200cm, respectively and also with numbers, simple char acters, and complex characters in that order. The findings of this study could be characterized about the legibility of Ko rean characters and be good resources for developing its standar d. Keyword: Legibility, Korean, Legible ch aracter size, One-syllable, Number

Grip Force, Finger Force, and Comfort analyses of Young and Old People by Hand Tool Handle Shapes

The purpose of this study was to evaluate aging (young and old), gender (male and female), and handle shape effects on grip force, finger force, and subjective comfort. Four handle shapes of A, D, I, and V were implemented by a multi-finger force measurement (MFFM) system which was developed to measure every finger force with different grip spans. Forty young (20 males and 20 females) and forty old (20 males and 20 females) subjects participated in twelve gripping tasks and rated their comfort for all handles using a 5-point scale. Grip forces were calculating by summation of all four forces of the index, middle, ring and little fingers. Results showed that young males (283.2N) had larger gripping force than old males (235.6N), while young females (151.4N) had lower force than old females (153.6N). Young subjects exerted the largest gripping force with D-shape due to large contribution of the index and middle fingers and the smallest with A-shape; however, old subjects exerted the largest with I-shape and the smallest with V-shape due to small contribution of the ring and little fingers. As expected, the middle finger had the largest finger force and the little finger had the smallest. The fraction of contribution of index and ring fingers to grip force differed among age groups. Interestingly, young subjects provided larger index finger force than ring finger force, whereas old subjects showed that larger ring finger forces than index finger force in the griping tasks. In the relationship between performance and subjective comfort, I-shape exerting the largest grip force had less comfort than D-shape producing the second largest grip force. The findings of this study can provide guidelines on designing hand tool handle to obtain better performance as well as users` comfort.

Development of an Ergonomic Checklist for the Investigation of Work-related Lower Limb Disorders in Farming - ALLA: Agricultural Lower-Limb Assessment

Objective: To develop an ergonomic evaluation tool which can be apply to assess the lower-limb postures associated with farming tasks. Background: In general, most of existing ergonomic assessment tools was developed to investigate the work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper-limb postures in manufacturing industry. Methods: As the first step of development of the evaluation tool, 13 lower-limb postures that were commonly observed in farming task were investigated by the subjective discomfort ratings, heart rates, and muscle activities. And then, an ergonomic evaluation tool for the lower-limb postures was developed based on results of the first experiment. Lastly, the ergonomic checklist which was developed in the current study was compared with other existing ergonomic assessment tools. Results: Based on the results of comparisons between a newly developed assessment tool and other existing assessment tools, it was found that a newly developed tool can perceive more sensitively for the various lower-limb postures than other assessment tools. Conclusions: Lower-limb posture assessment tool which can evaluate and assess risks of lower-limb WMSDs which were prevalent in farming tasks more easily and accurately was developed in this study. The lower-limb assessment tool can also be utilized to prevent WMSDs related with lower-limbs as well as improve working environments.

Investigation of the Effects of Resting Time and Trial on the Maximal Grip Strength

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the maximal grip strength for the combinations of resting time and trial and to provide guideline of resting time for the maximum gripping task associated with the number of trials. Background: Despite many previous researches for the maximal grip strength, few studies have considered the effect of both trials and rest time on the maximum grip strength. Methods: A total of thirty subjects participated in the study. The average of maximum grip strength was measured using JAMAR hydraulic hand dynamometer. The testing position was same as the position recommended by the American Society of Hand Therapists. The between-subject experimental design has been conducted in this study. Trials(1~20 trials) and rest time(2, 3, and 4min) were considered as independent variables, and the maximum grip strength was considered as dependent variable, respectively, in this study. Results: According to the result of the number of trials, the maximal grip strength decreased gradually as the number of trials increased. The ANOVA result showed that the main effect was significant for both resting time(p＜.0001) and trial(p＜.0001), and the interaction was significant(p＜0.0086). Conclusions: The maximal grip strength decreased gradually as the number of trials increased. Thus, basic guideline of resting time was suggested for the number of trials of maximal grip strength tests in this study.

A Study on the Difference of Total Grip Strength and Individual Finger Force between Dominant and Non-dominant Hands in Various Grip Spans of Pliers

Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyze the individual finger force between dominant hand and non-dominant hand and to investigate an effect of the individual finger on the total grip strength depending on dominant hand and non-dominant hand. Background: Many studies on the ratio of the grip force between dominant hand and non-dominant hand has been researched. While a 10% rule which is a ratio of the grip force between dominant hand and non-dominant hand has been applied in most studies, studies on the rate of the individual finger force between dominant hand and non-dominant hand have been insufficiently researched. Method: The experiment was preceded with 17 subjects (male, mean 25.8 ages). The individual finger force and total grip strength were measured using pliers being able to change the grip span from 45 to 80mm. Results: The difference of total grip strength between dominant hand and non-dominant hand is following 10% rule. However, the difference of individual finger force between dominant hand and non-dominant hand are not same as the difference of total grip strength. Especially in the case of grip span with 50mm, the differences between total grip strength, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger were 9.87±14.80%, 8.95±37.17%, 13.71±28.27%, 6.77±24.35%, 39.29±42.46%, respectively, with p=0.018 of statistical significance. Additionally, the results of regression analysis in 50 and 60mm of grip span showed that the difference in ring finger affected the most to the total grip strength; and the effects followed in order of index finger, middle finger, and little finger. Conclusion: Our study suggests that an effect of individual finger and grip span of pliers have to be considered when explaining the difference of the total grip strength between dominant hand and non-dominant hand. Application: This result is expected to be used for designing ergonomic hand tool.

Subjective Assessments and Analyses of Letter Sizes Under Black and White Contrasts for Various Font Sizes Through the Irradiation-effect

ABSTRACT Irradiation is a phenomenon that causes white objects on a black background to appear to spread into near dark backgrounds, but the reverse is not. In this study, the effects of font size and thickness of letters on the legibility were investigated in combinations of black letters/white background as well as white letters/black background. Ten subjects who had been no disease of eyes and their eyesight is over 1.0 were recruited and tested subjective assessments of letter sizes for various font sizes (2pt to 80pt) and thickness of letters (normal, bold) under 600lux illumination and 50cm-distance of eyes and target letters for this study. Ming-style font type which was generally used in text of books, papers, and journals were tested in this study. Results showed that generally people subjectively assessed the white letters on black background (W/B) were larger sizes of letters than the black letters on white background (B/W) even both letter sizes were the same in both normal and bold thickness of letters. This phenomenon was happened in case of only over 22 font size (with border line about 22~24pts). Less than 22 font sizes, many people reported that both letters (W/B and B/W) are looks the same sizes in normal as well as bold letters. These findings were interpreted also by the irradiation phenomenon and more detail information was presented in this manuscript. Keyword: Irradiation-effect, Font size, Thickness of letters, Contrast, Legibility

The Effects of Coordinated Upper-limb Postures of Back, Shoulder, and Elbow Flexion Angles on the Subjective Discomfort Rating, Heart Rate, and Muscle Activities

Objective: This study was to investigate the effects of coordinated upper-limb body postures on the subjective discomfort rating, heart rate, and muscle activities. Background: Although generally many checklists such as OWAS, RULA, and REBA were applied to evaluate various body postures, the body postures were might be overestimated or underestimated because each body part(i.e., back, shoulder, and elbow etc.) was evaluated separately, and then added all rates of individual body parts to assess an overall risk level for the body posture in these methodologies. Methods: A total of 20 participants maintained 14 postures which were combinations of back, shoulder, and elbow flexion angles and then muscle activities, subjective discomfort, and heart rates were collected every three minute during a sustained 15 minute and 0.5kg weight holding task. Four muscle groups were investigated: erector spine, anterior deltoid, upper trapezius, triceps brachii. Results: Results showed that subjective discomfort was the lowest when the angle of back and shoulder were both 0°s, while the body posture with 45° of back angle and 45° shoulder angle was rated as the most subjective discomfort posture. In general, the subjective discomfort ratings increased as back and shoulder flexion angles increased. It was noted that, however, the subjective discomfort of body posture with a 45° back angle and 45° shoulder flexion angle was lower than that of body posture with a 0° back and 45° shoulder flexion angle. The research findings of heart rates and muscle activities showed similar results for the analyses of subjective discomfort ratings. Conclusions: The possible limitations of the current ergonomics evaluation techniques which assessing a body posture with summing all body part score after individually analyzed in this study. Based on the analyses of subjective discomfort, heart rate, and muscle activities, it was recommended that a use of effects of coordinated upper-limb body postures would be considered when one evaluates work-load for various working postures. Application: These findings can be used for developing a more accurate assessment checklist for working posture as well as preventing musculoskeletal disorders of workers in workplaces.

Optimal Grip Span of A-type Pliers in a Maximum Gripping Task

Objective: The objective of this study is designing an optimal hand tool through maximum grip force study accordance to the hand grip span. Background: In order to prevent musculoskeletal diseases, studies on hand tool design are proceeding based on grip strength, finger force, and contribution of individual finger force on total grip strength. However, experimental apparatus using a tool that is actually used in work place was almost non-existent. Method: 19 males were participated in an experiment. Using the load cell inserted real plier, finger force, grip strength, and subjective discomfort rate of both hands (dominant and non-dominant) were measured in 5 different hand grip span(45mm, 50mm, 60mm, 70mm, and 80mm). Results: There was significant difference(p<0.001) of total grip strength, individual finger force and subjective discomfort rating according to various hand grip span(45, 50, 60, 70, and 80mm). Also, statistically significant different(p<0.001) was shown between the dominant hand and non-dominant hand. In addition, individual finger force in maximum grip was in order of middle finger, ring finger, index finger, and little finger. Conclusion: Optimal grip span of pliers that exerting maximum grip strength is 50~60mm. Application: This finding is expected to be used for designing proper pliers.

Development and Evaluation of the Neck Supporter for Preventing Neck-related MSDs

Many WMSDs(work-related-musculoskeletal disorders) have been reported in diverse industries and have also attracted much attention in recent years. Neck-related MSD is generally known as one of common WMSDs, especially it happens to workers who are working at the automobile assembly plants and/or shipyards. The awkward posture is considered as a main cause of neck-related MSDs. A neck supporter was developed to prevent neck-related MSDs, and 10 males were recruited to evaluate the newly developed neck supporter by measuring subjective discomfort ratings of whole body, shoulder, neck and neck-muscle activities. Muscle activities from four neck muscle groups(left/right sternocleidomastoid and upper/ middle trapezius) were measured while simulating an automobile assembly task. Results showed that the neck supporter help to significantly improve subjective discomfort for whole-body, shoulder as well as neck body parts. The analyses of muscular activities also showed that the activities of left/right sternocleidomastoid muscles were statistically decreased with the neck supporter in this study. The muscle activities of upper/middle trapezius in case of wearing the neck supporter were not significantly different with the muscle activities in case of no-wearing the neck supporter. Overall findings verified that the neck supporter might help to prevent neck-related MSDs based on the current study.