A Simple Lift or Press of a Finger Tells Tons

From USC

Tap, tap, tap. That's all it took to demonstrate the complexity and vulnerability of human engineering, says a researcher who found deep meaning in a commonplace conduct -- people's tapping or pressing a finger on a flat surface. Movement speed played an unexpected role in force generation; maximal force was shown to be independent of movement speed -- a reality that upset decades of theories on muscle properties and their effect on function as well as redundacy in human mechanical systems. There's more work to be done. But researchers say this study will help better design mechanical grasping devices and gives insight into manual dexterity and its vulnerability to aging and disease.

Lifting a Finger to Learn Lots About Body Mechanics