EXPRESS: Moving objects past obstacles: A computer vision pipeline for video processing and a test of anticipatory planning.

Previous studies suggest that obstacles encountered during the manual transport of objects affect the way people grasp these objects. The present study used computer vision techniques to analyse the hand movements of 19 participants who were asked to pick up a bowl to which a pointer was attached so the bowl could be moved from a start position (an initial location and orientation) to a target position (a specified location but with the orientation left to the participants' discretion). Ten participants were asked to move the bowl around an obstacle, whereas the rest performed the task without the obstacle. No significant effects of the obstacle were found on the selected target orientation of the bowl or on the initial grasp position on the rim. Nevertheless, the automated computer vision method proved highly robust, offering a promising framework for future studies with larger sample sizes and varied task conditions.