Customizable Grips in a Bionic Hand: How Esper Hand 2 Adapts to Everyday Tasks
Esper Hand 2 is a multi-grip bionic hand designed to adapt to different everyday activities. It includes 8 standard grip patterns, while the Esper+ App allows users to create and manage custom grips, adjust control settings, and personalize how the hand responds to specific tasks.
For a prosthetic hand, having multiple grips is useful. Being able to customize, prioritize, and reorganize those grips can make the device significantly more adaptable to an individual user's routine.
What are customizable grips in a bionic hand?
A customizable grip is a hand configuration that can be adapted and saved for a particular task, object, or type of interaction.
Instead of relying only on a fixed set of factory-defined hand positions, users can organize additional grip configurations around the activities they perform most often.
This matters because there is no single prosthetic grip that works equally well for every object.
Holding a smartphone requires a different hand position from holding a bottle. Handling a key is different from using a pen. Desk work, cooking, personal care, physical work, and outdoor activities can all involve different grip requirements.
With Esper Hand 2, grip personalization is managed through the Esper+ App.
How grip customization works with Esper Hand 2
Esper Hand 2 combines a multi-grip bionic hand with app-based configuration.
The Esper+ App allows users to manage the grips available on the hand and adapt its setup to their everyday needs.
Users can:
access standard grip configurations;
create custom grip configurations;
edit custom grips;
activate or deactivate grips;
reorder grips based on how frequently they are used;
check muscle-sensor signals;
adjust sensor sensitivity;
choose control presets and adjust impulse values;
use training tools to improve control skills.
This means grip customization is not isolated from the rest of the control system. Grip management, EMG sensor setup, and control preferences can be configured within the same ecosystem.
Standard grips vs. custom grips
Esper Hand 2 comes with 8 standard grips designed to cover common hand positions and everyday interactions.
These predefined grips provide a starting point for using the hand.
Custom grips add another level of personalization by allowing the hand configuration to be adapted around specific activities, objects, or user preferences.
Grip type | Purpose |
|---|---|
Standard grips | Predefined hand configurations designed for common tasks and interactions |
Custom grips | User-configured hand positions created for individual activities, objects, or preferences |
Active grips | Grips included in the user's current control rotation |
Inactive grips | Saved grips that do not need to remain in the active rotation |
The important distinction is not simply how many grips a bionic hand provides.
The more practical question is whether users can decide which grips are useful to them and which ones should be easiest to access.
What are the standard grips in Esper Hand 2?
Esper Hand 2 includes 8 standard grip patterns, each designed around a different hand position or type of object interaction.
Esper Hand 2 grip | Intended use | Typical objects or interactions |
|---|---|---|
Free Palm | Neutral resting position | Relaxed hand posture and situations where an active grasp is not required |
Precision Pinch | Precision handling of small objects | Small objects requiring controlled fingertip interaction |
Tripod | Three-finger grasp for precision handling | Medium-sized objects and tasks requiring three-point contact |
Bottle | Cylindrical grasp | Bottles, cups, glasses, and other cylindrical objects |
Utensil | Holding writing, drawing, and precision instruments | Pens, pencils, drawing tools, and similar instruments |
Lateral | Holding thin or flat objects | Keys, cards, and other thin objects |
Fist | Secure closed-hand position | Larger or softer objects and situations requiring a closed grasp |
Tap | Digital and button interaction | Touchscreens, keyboards, buttons, and similar interfaces |
These standard grips are not intended to represent every object or activity a user may encounter.
Instead, they provide useful starting configurations that can be complemented by custom grips built around the user's own routines, work tasks, hobbies, and frequently used objects.
For example, one person may want a configuration tailored to a frequently used work tool, while another may create or prioritize grips for a phone, cup, camera, piece of equipment, or another object they interact with every day.
This is why grip customization can be more meaningful than grip count alone.
Touchscreen use with Esper Hand 2
Esper Hand 2 also supports touchscreen interaction through the four non-thumb fingers: the index, middle, ring, and little finger.
The thumb is not touchscreen-compatible.
This can be useful for everyday interactions with smartphones, tablets, touch displays, and other digital interfaces.
The Tap grip, in particular, is designed around interactions such as touchscreens, keyboards, and buttons.
Why customizable grips matter in everyday life
Bionic hands are used in environments that are much less predictable than a laboratory.
During a normal day, a person may interact with dozens of objects with different shapes, sizes, weights, and materials.
A practical prosthetic system therefore needs more than a strong grip. It needs to make switching between different activities manageable.
App-based grip personalization allows users to build their setup around their own routines.
Daily activity | Why grip customization can help |
|---|---|
Holding a phone | Helps prioritize a stable configuration for smartphone use |
Carrying a bag | Helps keep an appropriate grip accessible for handles and straps |
Drinking from a cup | Helps configure or prioritize a grip for cylindrical objects |
Writing | Helps provide access to grips intended for pens and other writing instruments |
Desk work | Helps organize grips for a phone, keyboard, mouse, pen, and cup |
Outdoor activity | Helps organize grips for bottles, straps, handles, or equipment |
Physical work | Helps keep stronger or more stable configurations easier to access |
Personal care | Helps support repeated routines such as grooming and dressing |
The goal is not necessarily to create a separate grip for every object.
Instead, customization allows users to create and prioritize a smaller set of configurations that correspond to activities they perform repeatedly.
Customizable grips can reflect a user's occupation
Occupation is one of the clearest examples of why prosthetic-hand customization matters.
Esper Hand users have different professions and daily routines. Some work in hospitality, some in software and engineering, some in education, while others use the hand across physical jobs, hobbies, rehabilitation, or everyday activities.
The objects people interact with during a working day can therefore be completely different.
Someone working in a café or bar may frequently interact with:
glasses;
cups;
bottles;
containers;
handles;
work equipment.
Someone working at a computer may interact more often with:
smartphones;
a mouse;
keyboards;
notebooks;
pens;
cups.
A teacher may regularly need to handle:
pens and markers;
books;
papers;
laptops;
classroom materials;
bags.
A grip system becomes more useful when its configuration can reflect these differences instead of forcing every user into exactly the same workflow.
Grip customization and EMG control
Esper Hand 2 is a myoelectric prosthetic hand, meaning that muscle signals are used to control the device.
Customization therefore involves more than choosing the shape of a grip.
Within the Esper+ App, users can check muscle-sensor activity and adjust sensor sensitivity. Control presets and impulse values can also be configured as part of the hand's setup.
This distinction is important:
Grip customization determines which hand configurations are useful, while control customization helps determine how the user accesses and controls them.
Combining both makes personalization more practical than simply providing a long list of predefined hand positions.
Reordering grips can be as important as creating them
More grips do not automatically make a prosthetic hand easier to use.
If a user has to cycle through many rarely used configurations before reaching the grip they need, additional options can increase complexity rather than reduce it.
That is why Esper+ allows grips to be activated, deactivated, and reordered.
A user can prioritize frequently used grips while keeping less relevant configurations outside the active rotation.
For example, someone who spends most of the working day at a computer may prioritize grips related to digital devices, writing instruments, and everyday desk objects.
Another user may prioritize Bottle, Lateral, Fist, or custom configurations because their daily activities involve different objects.
Grip management is therefore partly about reducing unnecessary choices, not simply adding more of them.
Can Esper Hand 2 grips be adjusted without visiting a clinic?
Many everyday grip and control configuration changes can be managed through the Esper+ App once the prosthetic system has been fitted and configured.
Esper Hand connects to the Esper+ App through Bluetooth rather than Wi-Fi, so general app functions do not depend on a continuous internet connection.
Users can therefore access supported adjustments without an active internet connection, including in Airplane Mode when Bluetooth remains enabled.
Clinical fitting and major prosthetic adjustments should still be handled according to the user's individual clinical setup and prosthetist's recommendations.
Customizable grips vs. more grips: what actually matters?
When comparing bionic hands, the number of available grips is often presented as a specification.
That number can be useful, but it does not tell the whole story.
Several additional questions can be more important in everyday use.
Can users create custom grips?
A fixed grip library provides less flexibility than a system where additional configurations can be adapted to individual activities.
Can grips be reordered?
Frequently used grips should be easier to access than configurations that are only occasionally needed.
Can unused grips be removed from the active rotation?
Reducing unnecessary choices can make navigating between grips more practical.
Can control settings be adjusted alongside grip settings?
The way a user activates and controls grips can matter as much as the hand positions themselves.
Can the configuration change with the user's routine?
Work, hobbies, rehabilitation goals, and daily activities can change over time. A configurable prosthetic system can adapt alongside them.
Esper Hand 2 approaches customization as part of the broader Esper ecosystem, rather than treating the number of available grips as an isolated specification.
Customizable grips are about personalization, not complexity
The purpose of adding customization to a bionic hand is not to make the device more complicated.
It is the opposite.
A useful prosthetic setup should make frequently repeated actions easier to access while allowing less relevant options to stay out of the way.
For one person, that may mean prioritizing configurations for a laptop, phone, and pen.
For another, it may mean bottles, glasses, and work equipment.
For someone else, it could mean grips adapted around travel, exercise, hobbies, or personal-care routines.
Esper Hand 2 combines 8 standard grip patterns with customizable grips and app-based control, allowing the prosthetic setup to adapt to the user's activities instead of expecting every user to work with exactly the same fixed configuration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Esper Hand 2 have customizable grips?
Yes. Esper Hand 2 supports grip personalization through the Esper+ App. Users can work with standard grips and create and manage up to 24 custom grip configurations for their own activities and preferences.
How many standard grips does Esper Hand 2 have?
Esper Hand 2 includes 8 standard grips: Free Palm, Precision Pinch, Tripod, Bottle, Utensil, Lateral, Fist, and Tap.
What is the Bottle grip for?
The Bottle grip is designed for cylindrical objects such as bottles, cups, and glasses.
What is the Lateral grip for?
The Lateral grip is designed for thin or flat objects, such as keys and cards.
What is the Utensil grip for?
The Utensil grip is intended for writing tools, drawing tools, and other precision instruments, including objects such as pens and pencils.
Which Esper Hand 2 grip is used for touchscreens?
The Tap grip is designed for digital and button interactions, including touchscreens. The index, middle, ring, and little fingers are touchscreen-compatible; the thumb is not.
What can users change in the Esper+ App?
The Esper+ App supports grip management, custom grip configuration, grip reordering, activation and deactivation of grips, muscle-sensor checks, sensor-sensitivity adjustment, control settings, and training features.
Why would someone create a custom prosthetic-hand grip?
A custom grip can help adapt the hand to a particular object or repeated activity that is not optimally covered by a standard grip—for example, a work tool, phone, piece of equipment, or object connected with a user's hobby or daily routine.
Can Esper Hand grips be reordered?
Yes. Grips can be reorganized so configurations used more frequently are easier to access. Grips that are not currently needed can also be made inactive.
Does Esper+ require an internet connection to adjust the hand?
General functions can be available without an internet connection because Esper Hand connects to the Esper+ App through Bluetooth rather than Wi-Fi.
Are more grips always better in a bionic hand?
Not necessarily. Grip count is only one factor. The ability to personalize, prioritize, reorder, and deactivate grips can be just as important because it affects how practical those configurations are in everyday use.
Summary
Esper Hand 2 is a customizable multi-grip bionic hand with 8 standard grip patterns: Free Palm, Precision Pinch, Tripod, Bottle, Utensil, Lateral, Fist, and Tap. Through the Esper+ App, users can create and organize custom grips, reorder frequently used configurations, deactivate unnecessary ones, adjust EMG sensor settings, and adapt control preferences. This allows the prosthetic setup to better reflect different jobs, activities, objects, and everyday routines.