An optical trapped microhand for manipulating micron-sized objects.

We have developed a real time interface for holographic optical tweezers where the operator's fingertips are mapped to the positions of silica beads captured in optical traps. The beads act as the fingertips of a microhand which can be used to manipulate objects that otherwise do not lend themselves to tweezers control, e.g. objects that are strongly scattering or highly light sensitive. We illustrate the use of the microhand for the real time manipulation of micron sized chrome particles.