Methods and systems for assisting hemiplegic and hemiparetic patients are described herein. A wearable gripper system assists a user with one functional hand to independently perform basic tasks. A wearable gripper is located on the forearm above a disabled hand. The user controls the wearable gripper easily and intuitively based on gestures measured by an instrumented wristband device. Movements detected at the functioning wrist and forearm are translated into the motion control commands communicated to the actuators of the wearable gripper. In this manner, the wearable gripper assists the user to manipulate objects in lieu of the disabled hand. In some embodiments, a number of conductive, stretchable string sensors are wrapped around the hand of a user to estimate wrist and hand motion. In some embodiments, a gripper actuator includes two or more fingers, each having a location dependent shape profile and compliance to accommodate different manipulation tasks.
