  We collected the hand anthropometric data of 91 respondents to come up with a
Filipino-based measurement to determine the suitability of an input device for
a digital equipment, the standard PC keyboard. For correlation purposes, we
also collected other relevant information like age, height, province of origin,
and gender, among others. We computed the percentiles for each finger to
classify various finger dimensions and identify length-specific anthropometric
cut-points. We compared the percentiles of each finger dimension against the
actual length of the longest key combinations when correct finger placement is
used for typing, to determine whether the standard PC keyboard is fit for use
by our sampled population. Our analysis shows that the members of the
population with hand dimensions at extended position below 75th percentile and
at 99th percentile are the ones who would most likely not reach the longest key
combination for the left and the right hands, respectively. Using machine
vision and image processing techniques, we automated the anthropometric process
and compared the accuracy of its measurements to that of manual process'. We
compared the measurement generated by our automated anthropometric process with
the measurements using the manual one and we found out that they have a very
minimal absolute difference. The data collected from this study could be used
in other studies such as determining a good design for mobile and other
handheld devices, or input devices other than keyboard. The automated method
that we developed could be used to easily measure hand dimensions given a
digital image of the hand and could be extended for measuring the entire human
body for various other applications.
