Analysis of color symbology from the perspective of cultural semiotics focused on Korean costume colors according to the cultural changes

The purpose of this study was to analyze the symbolization of colors as cultural codes, based on costume colors. In order to study the significance of colors in cultural changes, we carried out a quantitative analysis and interpreted it from the perspective of cultural semiotics. The range of this study was focused on Korean costume colors, over diverse diachronic stages of Korean culture. For this study 1535 color samples were collected, measured with a spectrophotometer, and analyzed quantitatively according their diachronic stages of origin. As a result, red, blue, and yellow were found to be the most frequently used colors during the Chosun Dynasty, a period based on Confucianism. These colors acted as cultural codes with cultural significance. During the Modern times pink, light blue, and black increased in frequency and represented the reception of western culture, the changing sex role of women in society, and utilitarianism. In these days, neutral colors and grayish tones of all colors are the most significant colors of high frequency. The use of such colors is closely related to industrialization, mechanization, functionalism, and the changes of women's sex roles in the societies. They are used as cultural codes, especially to emphasize a rational and masculine image rather than a feminine image. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 32, 71–79, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20290     

Image flow segmentation and estimation using displaced spatial gradient

There are two main causes of inaccuracies in estimating image flows using gradient based techniques. One is the erroneous measurement of gradients in brightness and the other is the blurring of motion boundaries which is caused by the smoothness constraint. In the Letter, the gradient measurement error of conventional methods is analysed and a new technique based on this analysis proposed.<>     

Cying for Me, Cying for Us: Relational Dialectics in a Korean Social Network Site

This study employs a relational dialectics approach to gain insights into the nature of relational communication via Cyworld , a Korean social network site. Qualitative analysis of in-depth interview data from 49 users suggests that Cyworld users routinely negotiate multiple dialectical tensions that are created within the online world, transferred from face-to-face contexts, or imposed by interpersonal principles that relate to Korea's collectivistic culture. The interviewees experienced a new relational dialectic of interpersonal relations versus self-relation, analogous to Baxter and Montgomery's (1996) connection-autonomy contradiction. Their responses suggest that Cyworld's design features and functions encourage users to transcend the high-context communication of Korean culture by offering an alternative channel for elaborate and emotional communication, which fosters the reframing of relational issues offline. Cy-Ilchons (online buddies) virtually extend the Korean cultural concept of blood ties, called yons, in ways that intensify the openness-closedness contradiction at early stages of relationship formation.