# Contact Transfer: A Direct, User-Driven Method for Human to Robot Transfer of Grasps and Manipulations

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.15532 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.15532/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 29 Oct 2021.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [PICO: Reconstructing 3D People In Contact with Objects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.17695/) (2025)
- [Learning to Transfer Human Hand Skills for Robot Manipulations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.04169/) (2025)
- [BLaDA: Bridging Language to Functional Dexterous Actions within 3DGS Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.08410/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We present a novel method for the direct transfer of grasps and manipulations between objects and hands through utilization of contact areas. Our method fully preserves contact shapes, and in contrast to existing techniques, is not dependent on grasp families, requires no model training or grasp sampling, makes no assumptions about manipulator morphology or kinematics, and allows user control over both transfer parameters and solution optimization. Despite these accommodations, we show that our method is capable of synthesizing kinematically feasible whole hand poses in seconds even for poor initializations or hard to reach contacts. We additionally highlight the method's benefits in both response to design alterations as well as fast approximation over in-hand manipulation sequences. Finally, we demonstrate a solution generated by our method on a physical, custom designed prosthetic hand.