| 28 |
How do you define your dominant hand?Quantifying motor-skill performance using a smartphone 
|
|---|
The skilled hand in sports is usually determined by a handedness questionnaire [1], but it is blind to forced right-handed correction and does not measure motor performance. We invented a new method to easily evaluate each hand’s motor skill by quantifying the variability of fast repetitive motion. Unlike other measures of motor performance that require customized equipment, our method is practical as it uses a smartphone’s accelerometer to determine motor skill, making it easier to use in the field and at home. Our method could detect individuals who were forcibly corrected as their left hand was more skilled than the left hand of natural right-handers. In the near future, we plan to use our methodology to quantify sports training aimed at specific movements, and to motivate physical rehabilitation via daily feedback. It may also serve as a tool in understanding how and why the brain’s control of the left and right arms is different.
[1] A. Takagi, S. Maxwell, A. Melendez-Calderon, E. Burdet, “The dominant limb preferentially stabilizes posture in a bimanual task with physical coupling,” Journal of neurophysiology, Vol. 123, No. 6, pp. 2154-2160, 2020.
[2] R. C. Oldfield, “The assessment and analysis of handedness: the Edinburgh inventory,” Neuropsychologia, 1971.
Atsushi Takagi / Sensory and Motor Research Group, Human and Information Science Laboratory
Email: cs-openhouse-ml@hco.ntt.co.jp