The aims of this study was to investigate the change of visually impaired elementary male
students's gait motion after a 12-week-long training program. The kinematic variables examined in
this study include gait velocity, the center of gravity height change, stride time, stride length, body
lean angle, knee joint angle, ankle joint angle, foot rotation angle, shank and toe angular velocity.
The subjects were 13 visually impaired elementary students. Each student’s performances was
recorded using two high speed cameras at the speed of 100 frames per second. DLT(Direct Linear
Transformation technique) was applied to data collection and video analysis. The positions of body
landmarks in the projected images were digitalized for every frame of the two cameras.
Subsequently, the cubic spline functions were used to compute interpolated values for the instants
that corresponded in time. Main findings are as follows:
1. There was an increase in velocity of the center of gravity at the left foot landing and at the
right foot takeoff after the training program.
2. There was an increase in the stride length, but a decrease in the stride time after the training
program.
3. There were increases in the knee joint angle range and ankle joint angle range, foot rotation
angle flexion range from the left foot landing to the right foot takeoff after the training program.
4. There were increases in the shank and toe angular velocity at the left foot landing and at the
right foot takeoff after the training program.
Therefore, there arose a need to develop a model of gait patterns for visually impaired children,
based on their gait characteristics. It is also necessary to apply the findings of this study to the
development of an adapted physical education program model and help visually impaired children
acquire efficient gait patterns.