These gloves reduce the functional ability of the hands. Plastic strips limit the strength and range of motion of each finger and the thumb. Various conditions, such as arthritis, can cause reductions in these functional abilities. As an example, these gloves will make it much more difficult to use a knife and fork, which correctly simulates the difficulties that people with arthritis of the knuckles have in gripping small handles.

Other common effects not simulated by the gloves include pain, tremor, loss of tactile sensitivity, and changes to the shape of the hand that occur with ageing. Furthermore, they do not simulate any problems with the wrists. As an example, using a touchscreen keyboard on a mobile phone remains relatively easy with the gloves, but is particularly difficult for people with tremor. These gloves are intended to supplement other evaluation tools (described within the Getting started section).

Wearing these gloves helps to better empathise with those who have reduced dexterity, and to understand how dexterity loss can affect the ability to interact with a product. Products that remain comfortable to use with these gloves are likely to be more comfortable for a broad range of users.

Simulator gloves are currently out of stock. Please contact: edc-toolkit@eng.cam.ac.uk if you would like to be informed when more stock is available.