The ability to grasp and manipulate objects is fundamental
to many activities of daily living required to maintain
independence and quality of life. Physical grip capabilities
decline with age; and the functional effect of this can
be worsened by environmental barriers. Inclusive design
brings a thoughtful approach to the design of products
and environments offsetting this decline to ameliorate
independent living in later life. As yet, however, little
systematic research exists on the effects of object properties on older adults’ reach-‐to-‐grasp performance.
This thesis addresses that gap by exploring the impact
of object friction and size on the reach-‐to-‐grasp
capabilities of older and younger adults, and how these
differ.
The research gave an active voice to older adults through
focus groups to divulge their difficulties in daily activities that they ascribed to ageing, which provided context to the experimental research. A series of experiments were used to compare the reach-‐to-‐grasp
behaviour of older and younger adults, and how object
size and friction affected this. The research demonstrates
that older people adopt slower reach-‐to-‐grasp actions
in pinch and power grasp, partly due to their lower dexterity. This care, which they acknowledge, is
reflected in a more sequential movement, though they
exhibit similar grip forces to the younger participants,
and participants of all ages scaled their movement and
force to object size and friction.
Inclusive design sometimes uses impairment simulators, such
as the Cambridge Impairment Simulator Gloves, to help designers understand and empathise with impaired grip
capability. Accordingly, the research explored the influence
of these gloves on the reach-‐to-‐grasp behaviour of
young adults relative to that of older users. It was found
that by lowering young adults’ hand dexterity they forced
them to reach-‐to-‐grasp performances similar to older
adults, allowing the supposition that reduced hand
dexterity could partly explain older people’s approach.
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