An Exploratory Investigation of the Effect of a Sports Vision Program on Grade 4 and 5 Female Netball Players' Visual Skills

Vision is one of the most complex and dominant sensory systems necessary for information feedback from the environment. Few studies have already reported a positive effect of a sport vision program on elite sport teams' visual skills; however, few studies have focused on the effect of sport vision programs on children's visual skills. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of a sports vision program on Grade 4 and 5 female netball players' visual skills. Girls (N = 25) with a mean age of 10.08 years (SD = 0.65) formed part of this study. A pre-test-post-test design was followed with a retention test. The eight-week sports vision program was executed twice a week for 60 min on the experimental group (n = 13). The Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI-4), the Wayne Saccadic Fixator (WSF) and the Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) test were used to evaluate the girls' visual skills, hand-eye coordination, visual reaction time, peripheral vision and saccadic eye movements. No statistical differences were found between the two groups before starting with the sports vision program. After intervention, significant differences between the two groups were reported, with the experimental group performing better in hand-eye coordination (p = 0.001) and reaction time (p = 0.001). Results further indicated that the experimental group experienced significant improvements (p ≤ 0.05) in motor coordination, hand-eye coordination, reaction speed and visual tracking after intervention with significant lasting effects (p ≤ 0.05). The control group performed significantly worse in reaction time (p = 0.01). A sports vision program can be recommended for Grade 4 and 5 female netball players to improve certain visual skills.

Effects of Different Finger Grips and Arm Positions on the Performance of Manipulating the Chinese Brush in Chinese Adolescents

This study aimed to investigate the effects of finger grip and wrist position on Chinese calligraphy handwriting (CCH). Thirty participants were recruited in the study and asked to manipulate the Chinese brush using two finger grip methods (three-finger grip and five-finger grip) and two wrist positions (suspended wrist and raised wrist). Three experimental writing tasks were applied to investigate writing stability, agility, and hand–eye coordination, and to evaluate the completion time (s), area of error (cm²), and error times. Subjective responses (arm aching level, ease of grip, exertion level, and comfort) regarding the four combinations of Chinese brush manipulation were measured. The results indicated significantly better performance with the three-finger grip for the stability and agility tests, and with the five-finger grip for the hand–eye coordination task. Using the suspended wrist position for CCH allowed better agility and hand–eye coordination than the raised wrist position. In consideration of the results of the four operational combinations, the three-finger grip with a suspended wrist position demonstrated the best performance in both objective and subjective measurements. It is recommended for application in the early learning stage. These findings can be considered when teaching Chinese brushes for beginners of CCH in schools.

Effects of Horticultural Activities on Attitudes toward Aging, Sense of Hope and Hand-Eye Coordination in Older Adults in Residential Care Facilities

This study investigated the effects of an 8-week horticultural activity intervention on attitudes toward aging, sense of hope, and hand-eye coordination in 88 older adults in residential care facilities. In the experimental group, the mean score for "attitudes toward aging" increased from 3.81 before the intervention to 4.74 points after the intervention (standard deviation SD = 0.24 and 0.27, respectively), and the control group dropped from 3.75 to 3.70 (standard deviations, respectively SD = 0.27 and 0.28). The mean score for "sense of hope" increased from 3.28 before the intervention to 3.81 points after the intervention (SD = 0.49 and 0.26, respectively). In contrast to the control group, the mean score gradually declined from 3.26 to 3.16 points (standard deviation SD = 0.54 and 0.48, respectively). In the test of hand-eye coordination, the time required to complete the cup stacking test significantly decreased from 33.56 to 25.38 s in the experimental group but did not significantly change in the control group. Generalized estimating equation analysis revealed a significant interaction between group and time (p < 0.001). The data trends revealed significant differences in outcomes between the experimental group and the control group. At 3 months after the end of the study, the effect size in the experimental group remained higher than that in the control group.

Training Using a Commercial Immersive Virtual Reality System on Hand-Eye Coordination and Reaction Time in Young Musicians: A Pilot Study

The implementation of virtual reality (VR) opens up a wide range of possibilities for the development of dexterity, speed and precision of movements. The aim of this study was to investigate whether immersive VR training affected the hand–eye coordination and reaction time in students of the state music school. This study implemented a single-group pre-post study design. This study enrolled 14 individuals, submitted to a 15 min training session of the immersive music game “Beat Saber”, once a day for 5 consecutive days. The plate-tapping test (PTT) and the ruler-drop test (Ditrich’s test) were used to assess the reaction time. Trial-making test (TMT) A and TMT B were used to assess coordination and visual attention. Analysis of the results showed a statistically significant improvement in hand–eye coordination and reaction time of music school students using the TMT-A (p < 0.002), TMT-B (p < 0.001), Ditrich’s test for the non-dominant hand (0.025) and PTT (0.0001) after applying a week-long training period in immersive VR. The results obtained in the present study show that the VR system, along with the immersive music game, has the potential to improve hand–eye coordination and reaction time in young musicians, which may lead to the faster mastering of a musical instrument.

A "Global-Local" Visual Servo System for Picking Manipulators

During the process of automated crop picking, the two hand–eye coordination operation systems, namely “eye to hand” and “eye in hand” have their respective advantages and disadvantages. It is challenging to simultaneously consider both the operational accuracy and the speed of a manipulator. In response to this problem, this study constructs a “global–local” visual servo picking system based on a prototype of a picking robot to provide a global field of vision (through binocular vision) and carry out the picking operation using the monocular visual servo. Using tomato picking as an example, experiments were conducted to obtain the accuracies of judgment and range of fruit maturity, and the scenario of fruit-bearing was simulated over an area where the operation was ongoing to examine the rate of success of the system in terms of continuous fruit picking. The results show that the global–local visual servo picking system had an average accuracy of correctly judging fruit maturity of 92.8%, average error of fruit distance measurement in the range 0.485 cm, average time for continuous fruit picking of 20.06 s, and average success rate of picking of 92.45%.

Concepts for augmented reality visualisation to support needle guidance inside the MRI

During MRI-guided interventions, navigation support is often separated from the operating field on displays, which impedes the interpretation of positions and orientations of instruments inside the patient's body as well as hand–eye coordination. To overcome these issues projector-based augmented reality can be used to support needle guidance inside the MRI bore directly in the operating field. The authors present two visualisation concepts for needle navigation aids which were compared in an accuracy and usability study with eight participants, four of whom were experienced radiologists. The results show that both concepts are equally accurate (\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{upgreek} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} }{}$2.0 \pm 0.6$\end{document}2.0±0.6 and \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{upgreek} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} }{}$1.7 \pm 0.5\, {\rm mm}$\end{document}1.7±0.5mm), useful and easy to use, with clear visual feedback about the state and success of the needle puncture. For easier clinical applicability, a dynamic projection on moving surfaces and organ movement tracking are needed. For now, tests with patients with respiratory arrest are feasible.

Mental abilities and performance efficacy under a simulated 480-m helium-oxygen saturation diving

Stress in extreme environment severely disrupts human physiology and mental abilities. The present study investigated the cognition and performance efficacy of four divers during a simulated 480 meters helium–oxygen saturation diving. We analyzed the spatial memory, 2D/3D mental rotation functioning, grip strength, and hand–eye coordination ability in four divers during the 0–480 m compression and decompression processes of the simulated diving. The results showed that except for its mild decrease on grip strength, the high atmosphere pressure condition significantly impaired the hand–eye coordination (especially above 300 m), the reaction time and correct rate of mental rotation, as well as the spatial memory (especially as 410 m), showing high individual variability. We conclude that the human cognition and performance efficacy are significantly affected during deep water saturation diving.