Kenji Terabayashi, Natsuki Miyata, Kazunori Umeda, and Jun Ota

Abstract:
In this paper, we investigate pre-operations intended to adapt one to hands of controlled sizes when experiencing differently sized hands. Pre-operations are categorized into four types based on the relationship between a hand and an object. To quantify the degree of adaptation to differently sized hands, an index, called ¡ÈDegree Of Immersion (DOI),¡É is defined. The index indicates the appropriateness of the observed behavior to the presented hand size. The DOI was measured to compare pre-operations when changing hands in size variously. The experimental comparisons led to two main points: (i) no pre-operation is required with decreasing hand size due to easy adaptation, (ii) a preoperation, touching and controlling an object in position, is sufficiently effective for adapting larger hands. These points are important for design aid applications to assess usability of designing products by various users.

Keywords: pre-operation, differently sized hands, adaptation, asymmetric, body schema