  Chopsticks constitute a simple yet versatile tool that humans have used for
thousands of years to perform a variety of challenging tasks ranging from food
manipulation to surgery. Applying such a simple tool in a diverse repertoire of
scenarios requires significant adaptability. Towards developing autonomous
manipulators with comparable adaptability to humans, we study chopsticks-based
manipulation to gain insights into human manipulation strategies. We conduct a
within-subjects user study with 25 participants, evaluating three different
data-collection methods: normal chopsticks, motion-captured chopsticks, and a
novel chopstick telemanipulation interface. We analyze factors governing human
performance across a variety of challenging chopstick-based grasping tasks.
Although participants rated teleoperation as the least comfortable and most
difficult-to-use method, teleoperation enabled users to achieve the highest
success rates on three out of five objects considered. Further, we notice that
subjects quickly learned and adapted to the teleoperation interface. Finally,
while motion-captured chopsticks could provide a better reflection of how
humans use chopsticks, the teleoperation interface can produce quality
on-hardware demonstrations from which the robot can directly learn.
