This paper investigates hand grasping, a fundamental activity in daily living, by examining the forces and postures involved in the lift-and-hold phases of grasping. We introduce a novel multi-sensory data glove, integrated with resistive flex sensors and capacitive force sensors, to measure the intricate dynamics of hand movement. The study engaged five subjects to capture a comprehensive dataset that includes contact forces at the fingertips and joint angles, furnishing a detailed portrayal of grasp mechanics. Focusing on grasp synergies, our analysis delved into the quantitative relationships between the correlated forces among the fingers. By manipulating one variable at a time—either the object or the subject—our cross-sectional approach yields rich insights into the nature of grasp forces and angles. The correlation coefficients for finger pairs presented median values ranging from 0.5 to nearly 0.9, indicating varying degrees of inter-finger coordination, with the thumb-index and index-middle pairs exhibiting particularly high synergy. The findings, depicted through spider charts and correlation coefficients, reveal significant patterns of cooperative finger behavior. These insights are crucial for the advancement of hand mechanics understanding and have profound implications for the development of assistive technologies and rehabilitation devices.

The term ‘in the moment’ has received growing interest in the context of music programmes for people living with dementia, with music therapists, family carers, health-care professionals and people living with dementia themselves reporting the value of framing musical experiences in the ‘here and now’. Although this term is being used more frequently within the literature, there has yet to be a formal examination of such ‘in the moment’ musical experiences and how they might benefit a person living with dementia. We used a multiple-case study approach to develop a thematic framework of ‘in the moment’ musical experiences within the context of a music-making programme for people living with dementia. The research followed six people living with dementia and four family carers, and used video-observation and video-elicitation interviews to capture and analyse ‘in the moment’ experiences. Four thematic observations were developed which captured ‘in the moment’ musical experiences: Sharing a life story through music, Musical agency ‘in the moment’, Feeling connected ‘in the moment’ and Musical ripples into everyday life. These findings showcase the creativity and musical abilities of people living with dementia whilst affirming music as a medium to connect people living with dementia with their own life story, other people and the environments in which music-making takes place.