Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

Study: Prosthetic Hands Viewed as Eerie

November 12, 2013 By University of Manchester

Members of the public would prefer to look at human hands or robotic hands rather than prosthetic hands which they view as eerie, a new study by The University of Manchester has shown.

But prosthetic hands which looked more human-like were rated as less eerie, the academics found.

Researchers hope their study, published in the Journal Perception, and future work in this area will help improve designs for prosthetic limbs.

Earlier research has shown that people find robots that look as close to being human more uncomfortable than those which are clearly not human. But this research has focused on faces or whole bodies.

The University of Manchester study explored the theory with hands. 43 right-handed participants, 36 female and seven male, viewed a series of photographs of human, robotic and prosthetic hands and graded them on a nine-point scale in terms of eeriness or human-likeness.

They found prosthetic hands generally received the highest eeriness ratings and were rated as more human like than the mechanical hands. But prosthetic hands which looked more human-like were rated as less eerie.

Dr Ellen Poliakoff, based in the University’s School of Psychological Science who led the research, now plans to carry out further experiments. Dr Poliakoff said: “Our findings show hands are viewed in a similar way to previous experiments which have looked at faces and bodies.

“Finding out more about this phenomenon, known as the uncanny valley, may help with the design of prosthetic limbs.”

Dr Emma Gowen, based in the University’s Faculty of Life Science who also worked on the research, added: “We hope this and further research will allow us to learn more about social perception and what is special about perceiving another human being. Determining what factors contribute to eeriness can help us to understand how we interpret and respond to other people.”

Further information about the University research can be found here.

Related Articles Read More >

Johnson & Johnson J&J DePuy Synthes
Surgeon wins $20M verdict against J&J’s DePuy Synthes
What happens when bionic eye implants suddenly go dark?
Ossur power knee
Össur launches next-gen Power Knee
Cleveland Clinic bionic arm Paul Marasco Zachary Thumser
Cleveland Clinic reports bionic arm breakthrough

DeviceTalks Weekly.

May 20, 2022
DeviceTalks Boston Post-Game – Editors’ Top Moments, Insulet’s Eric Benjamin on future of Omnipod 5
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech 100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech