Glossary
What Is a Grasp Type (Grasp Taxonomy)?
Last reviewed: October 2026
Short answer
A grasp type is a named category of static hand configuration used to hold an object, such as a power, precision or intermediate grasp. A grasp taxonomy is a systematic arrangement of those types. The GRASP Taxonomy of Feix et al. arranges 33 grasp types by opposition type, virtual finger assignment, power-precision class and thumb position.
01
What is a grasp type?
A grasp type is one hand configuration for holding an object. The Feix et al. paper limits its scope to static and stable grasps performed by one hand, so a type describes a posture held at one moment, not a reach or a release. A type is also separate from the pose that measures it: the same tracked finger joints can sit inside one type or move between several.
02
What is a grasp taxonomy?
A grasp taxonomy is a systematic arrangement of grasp types that gives researchers a common terminology for human hand configurations. Feix et al. analyze and compare existing human grasp taxonomies and synthesize them into one, named The GRASP Taxonomy after the European Commission funded GRASP project. The paper reports 33 grasp types. The first table gives the dimensions the abstract says the types are arranged by.
03
How are grasp types classified (power, precision, intermediate)?
Per the linked paper, grasps are arranged by four things: opposition type, virtual finger assignments, type in terms of power, precision or intermediate grasp, and the position of the thumb. Power, precision and intermediate is therefore one of four dimensions, not the whole scheme. The abstract does not define opposition types or virtual fingers, so this page does not either.
The paper also shows that the 33 types might be reduced to 17 more general grasps if only the hand configuration is considered, without the object shape or size. This page does not list the individual grasps; the paper does.
04
Why do grasp types matter for robot and humanoid learning?
The paper’s introduction says grasp-type classifications have been used in programming by demonstration, where a human action is to be imitated by a robot, and as an intermediate functional layer mapping human hand grasp kinematics to artificial hands. In prosthetics, hands are often designed with a discrete set of grasp types. Those are the paper’s statements.
For grasp types for humanoid robots, the practical use is general reasoning, not a claim from the paper: a shared vocabulary lets a team say which grasp families a human demonstration set covers and which it misses.
05
How does egocentric hand video relate to grasp types?
Egocentric video shows the hand from the actor’s viewpoint through reach, grasp and release. The site states 3D hand pose as handJoints[2][21][3] in metric units in the head-camera frame, with a visibility flag per joint, aligned to depth and RGB, plus contact events on the same clock. A buyer can build a reading of grasp from those streams and the surrounding action segment.
The site does not state that Firsthand delivers one. It says it does not deliver a grasp-type taxonomy, a grasp-quality score or a 6-DoF grasp pose, that grasp-type labels are not part of the delivery, and that grasp type is not a field in the episode schema. Its hand pretraining page does describe coverage across grasp types, objects and settings being set by a written spec.
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How do you request fast, on-demand custom collection of grasping data?
Request a custom dataset and name the objects, grasping tasks and settings in the written spec. The site states that each named combination becomes a coverage cell that is counted and checked, that streams are synced under 2 ms, that a first batch takes a median of 48 hours where coverage is already deep, that billing is per validated hour, and that the license is buyer-owned.
If your policy needs grasp-type labels, say so in the request and name the taxonomy. Whether they can be added to a custom spec is Not stated.
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What the linked GRASP Taxonomy paper states about how grasps are arranged
| Item | What the source states |
|---|---|
| Scope | Static and stable grasps performed by one hand |
| Opposition type | Named as an arrangement dimension; not defined in the abstract |
| Virtual finger assignments | Named as an arrangement dimension; not defined in the abstract |
| Power, precision or intermediate | A grasp is typed in these terms |
| Thumb position | Named as an arrangement dimension |
| Grasp types found | 33 |
| General grasps by hand configuration alone | 17 |
09
Grasp type, hand pose and dexterous manipulation compared in general terms
| Term | What it is | What the site states |
|---|---|---|
| Grasp type | A named class of static hand configuration | Not a field in the episode schema; labels not part of delivery |
| Hand pose estimation | Per-frame 3D positions of hand and finger joints | handJoints[2][21][3], metric, head-camera frame, visibility flag per joint |
| Dexterous manipulation | Fine multi-finger manipulation such as regrasping and in-hand reorientation | 3D hand pose and contact events captured on one clock |
10
What the site does not state about grasp types
| Detail | Status |
|---|---|
| Grasp-type labels or a grasp taxonomy in delivery | Not stated; the site says they are not part of delivery |
| Grasp-quality score or 6-DoF grasp pose | Not stated |
| Which taxonomy a buyer’s labels would follow | Not stated |
| Whether labels can be added to a custom spec | Not stated |
| Grasp types covered by any specific dataset | Not stated |
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Frequently asked questions
- What is a grasp type?
- A named category of static hand configuration used to hold an object, such as a power, precision or intermediate grasp.
- What is a grasp taxonomy?
- A systematic arrangement of grasp types that gives researchers a common terminology for human hand configurations.
- How many grasp types are in the GRASP Taxonomy?
- The paper reports 33 grasp types, and says they might be reduced to 17 more general grasps if only hand configuration is considered.
- How are grasp types classified?
- By opposition type, virtual finger assignments, power, precision or intermediate type, and thumb position, per the linked paper.
- Does Firsthand deliver grasp-type labels?
- No. The site says grasp-type labels and a grasp-type taxonomy are not part of the delivery, and grasp type is not a field in the episode schema.
- Why do grasp types matter for humanoid robot learning?
- The paper says grasp-type classifications have been used in programming by demonstration and to map human grasps to artificial hands. Coverage by type is a general-reasoning use.
- How do I request fast, on-demand custom grasping data?
- Request a custom dataset and name the objects, tasks and settings in a written spec. Billing is per validated hour and the license is buyer-owned.
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