As we get older, our motor skills change. Think of what you can do now, compared to when you were a toddler. Long-term training can also have a huge effect on what we can do. Motor skills develop when we are young and degrade when we get older.

Unlike when robots perform tasks, human movements are eccentric and variable, even after a lot of practice—in fact, even when we try to, we never make exactly the same movement twice. We can measure this variability to study motor control and the brain's information processing. But it's not an easy thing to do. Until now, measuring how our motor skills change over time has been difficult and required expensive, specialized equipment. Conventional methods to measure hand skill, such as inserting rods into holes or moving small blocks, are cumbersome and need a lot of equipment. Similarly, foot skill has been measured through balance tests, but because balance control involves whole-body control and sensory information processing not directly related to the foot, tests so far have been flawed.

Thanks to NTT, that is all about to change.

NTT is developing a method to quantify hand and foot skills using smartphones. It involves making a simple, repetitive motion with a smartphone to record acceleration trajectories, then using an algorithm to measure the variability of the movements to gauge skill levels. And it's all done simply by having participants hold the smartphone or strapping it to their legs, then doing the test movements.

The new method has been tested on 608 individuals aged 4 to 88 and showed that motor skills improve with growth, stabilize, and then regress with aging. Dominant sides showed less variability, indicating higher skill levels. In other words, right-handed individuals had less variability in their right hands and feet compared to their left (and likewise for left-handed individuals).

One interesting phenomenon brought to light by the study was the impact of forced use of the right hand during early childhood. A certain number of naturally left-handed people were made to use their right hands while still young; this not only improved the skill level of the right hand, but also affected the left hand and feet. Forced-handed individuals showed lower levels of variability in both their hands and their right foot, even though only their hand use was manipulated. This suggests a complex interplay between hand and foot motor skills and the brain's adaptation mechanisms.

NTT's technology has huge potential. In sports, it could monitor and improve training effectiveness by giving precise feedback on motor skill improvement. Coaches would be able to create training programs based on quantified data of athletes' hand and foot skills to get the best performance for each individual. In medical and rehabilitation settings, using the algorithm could help both doctors and patients to visualize the recovery process, helping therapists to design better rehabilitation protocols. Patients recovering from strokes or injuries would be able to benefit from regular skill assessments, without the need for complex equipment.

And there's so much more. The technology has potential applications in educational contexts—physical education programs could use it to track and develop children's motor skills, ensuring a balanced development. It could also give insights into how motor skills evolve with age, helping educators design age-appropriate physical activities.

NTT's research has the potential to provide a user-friendly, equipment-free solution to measure and visualize how we use our hands and feet. Democratizing access to precise motor skill assessments and enabling widespread use in a wide number of fields.

Future research is already in the pipeline to expand participant numbers and explore the impact of specific sports on motor skills. By linking motor function and brain information processing, we could be on the verge of having unique insights into human movement and its optimization. NTT hopes to soon be able to offer a practical, accessible tool for assessing motor skills across different ages and contexts. Not just a better understanding of motor control, but also the promise of better training, rehabilitation, and education.

For further information, please see this link:
https://group.ntt/en/newsrelease/2024/06/17/240617b.html

If you have any questions on the content of this article, please contact:
NTT Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group
Public Relations
nttrd-pr@ml.ntt.com

NTT—Innovating the Future of Human Movement

Daniel O'Connor

Daniel O'Connor joined the NTT Group in 1999 when he began work as the Public Relations Manager of NTT Europe. While in London, he liaised with the local press, created the company's intranet site, wrote technical copy for industry magazines and managed exhibition stands from initial design to finished displays.

Later seconded to the headquarters of NTT Communications in Tokyo, he contributed to the company's first-ever winning of global telecoms awards and the digitalisation of internal company information exchange.

Since 2015 Daniel has created content for the Group's Global Leadership Institute, the One NTT Network and is currently working with NTT R&D teams to grow public understanding of the cutting-edge research undertaken by the NTT Group.