Clapping

Clapping is when you hit your hands together which makes a sound. The harder you hit, the louder the sound, the softer you hit, less the sound. If hitting by means of hand to hand contact it will make a different sound than if you were to clap against another object, say, your leg. Clapping likely originated as an audible behavior to capture peers' attention, indicating significance, whether positive or negative. It can mirror the playful and enthusiastic gestures seen in primates' "play face," suggesting a non-aggressive intent. Alternatively, clapping might convey threat or dominance through powerful sounds, offering clues about hand size and, by implication, the individual's strength. It could also serve as a distant expression of affiliation, akin to a pseudo hug. Furthermore, clapping may have evolved as a means to cultivate collective belonging, with synchronized clapping fostering a sense of group unity.

Clapping hand

Identical approach

Bruno Repp's groundbreaking research revealed that the sound generated by clapping could be as individualized as vocal tract sounds, akin to the uniqueness of a person's voice. Just as speech conveys information about specific movements of the vocal tract, clapping provides distinct auditory cues about movement configurations in a particular moment. Given that vocal tract sounds alone can often identify individuals, there arises the question: can clapping possess similar identifying qualities? Two subsequent studies demonstrated that algorithms trained to analyze spectral changes in clapping sounds could achieve a notable recognition rate, suggesting the potential for clapping to serve as a distinctive identifier.