Competence Centre for Computer-based Methods in Handwriting
The aim of the Competence Centre is to establish a knowledge base for computer-based systems supporting handwriting research. It has the following objectives:
– Coordinate the development efforts of specialists and students
– Analysis of current development trends
– Evaluate and select appropriate software for specific research purposes
– Establish a discussion to enable exchange and provide a reference point
Handwriting Analysis Software
There are two categories of handwriting analysis software
1. Fully automated handwriting analysis.
It is based on the processing of scanned samples. The are system both for handwriting examination and handwriting psychology. The main area of development and application is computer science. The handwriting part is typically not well designed because it is not yet possible to automatically evaluate a reasonable number of handwriting signs. For this reason, developers limit the systems to just a dozen of the simplest handwriting signs. Nevertheless, further development could be interesting if the computer methods are able to cover more handwriting features and prove to be more reliable.
Selected systems of this type:
– AHWAS Automated Handwriting Analysis System (National Institute for Technology in Mongalore, India)
– CAG Computer-Aided Graphology (New-York University in Buffalo, USA)
– CEDAR-FOX (New-York University in Buffalo, USA)
2. Hybrid systems.
They combine manual analysis of text and handwriting features with computerised evaluation of psychological features.
Hybrid systems focus more on the handwriting part. They are as good as the built-in and programmed sets of handwriting signs, as well as the psychological traits and the connections between them. Existing systems cover a wide range, from the primitive to the very complex.
Selected systems of this type:
– HSDetect (Switzerland)
– GraphoPro (Switzerland)
– Handwriting Analyst (USA)
– Handwriting Analyzer (USA)
Digitalizers
Digitalizers or graphics tables enable the registering of the writing process executed with a special stylus. The protocol includes measurements of pressure and speed. It also registers the movement direction on the surface of the tablet as well as in the air. The most popular digitalizers are those by Watcom. A special computer program evaluates the protocol. The quality of the analysis is mostly defined by the quality of the evaluating software.
Examples: CSWin (Science And Motion, Germany), MovAlyzeR (NeuroScript, USA), ComPET (Technion, Haifa, Israel)
Image Analysers
Image analysis software is mainly used in forensic applications. This kind of software is neither typically nor explicitly designed for handwriting research. However, the programs allow the exact measurement of different handwriting variables like size, distances and angles.
Selected systems:
– ImageJ, freeware (National Institute of Health, USA)
– Gwyddion (Czech Metrology Institute)
– GIMP, free open-source