Classifying Human Hand Use and the Activities of Daily Living

Humans use their hands for a large variety of tasks during daily life. In this chapter, a discussion of human hand use is presented, including classification schemes for grasping and manipulation behaviors. First, a simple classification of the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) is presented, providing some structure to a terminology that is typically used in an ad hoc manner. Next, an overview of work related to classifications and taxonomies of static grasp types is presented, followed by a study investigating the frequency of use of various grasp types by a housekeeper and machinist. Finally, a taxonomy classifying hand-based manipulation is presented, providing a hand-centric and motion-centric categorization of hand use. These descriptions and classifications of hand use should prove useful to researchers interested in robotic manipulation, prosthetics, rehabilitation, and biomechanics.