Last year, I participated in some kind of hackathon project where makers can come together and brainstorm ideas in order to help a group of physically challenged people achieve their respective wishes.
As I play the guitar myself, I signed up with a guitar player (and a fairly successful one apparently) that had lost fine motor skills in his picking hand due to a series of strokes. He could still play the guitar, but dropped his pick constantly due to reduced clamping strength in his fingers. So we came up with a couple of ideas to help him out.
The first prototype involved a clay mold that I took from the cavity in his hand while he was picking. Then attached a pick in the optimal location and at the right angle. Holding this mold would ensure the pick stays where it belongs. The guy liked the first prototype, so we proceeded.
I shaped the clay piece a little bit so it was more ergonomically and aesthetically pleasing, put it on a stick, and gave it a coat of spray paint just to seal it all up (only had yellow on hand at the time).
Then I made a silicone mold based off the clay piece, and used that to make an exact silicone copy.
I don’t have a vacuum pot so there are some air bubbles, but other than that the result was pretty much what I was shooting for. I glued on a pick holder (found on eBay) to that so he could switch picks if he wanted to, and we were ready for testing.
In the end, we didn’t go with this prototype, because after elaborate testing he found that the silicone piece in his hand was restricting his hand movement too much.
So we worked on another idea, which is basically a thicker pick with more grip. The downside to this design is that it doesn’t allow for switching between pick types/thicknesses. But the center holes do allow for a velcro or rubber band to loop through so the pick can be fixed to his thumb.
Sadly, then Corona hit, the country went in lockdown and the whole project had to be shelved. Maybe we’ll resume this, I honestly don’t know as of now.