Handwriting Analysis Software
By Kaur, Lovepreet; RESNA 2010 Student Design Competition,Publication Date: May 13, 2010
Article outlines the development of a software tool for analyzing handwriting data. Developed by an engineering student at Wayne State University for its Human Movement Laboratory, the tool allows comparing the handwriting characteristics of people with impairments such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases to a solid database as well as demonstrating the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions to improve handwriting. The user friendly application is developed in LabView and therefore easy to install on a computer. The three main features of the application are parameter calculation, graphical displays, and data saving. For the database, handwriting data were collected from healthy people of four age groups: 7 to 9 years, 12 to 14, 30 to 50, and 60 to 80 years old, as well as from Huntington patients in the last age category. The developed tool was tested with 10 participants, 8 from the 4 different age categories and 2 Huntington patients. Average values of 3 main parameters were calculated: force inefficiency, peak velocity, and peak accelerations. Average force inefficiency was shown to decrease in the four age categories as age increased from 7 to 80 years, and to further decrease in the old Huntington patients. On the other hand, peak velocity and peak acceleration increased as age increased, which was expected as movements are jerkier in older adults and those with conditions such as Huntington’s disease. The software tool was an entry in the RESNA 2010 Student Design Competition.
Published by: Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) (Website:http://www.resna.org)
Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Communication Enhancement (AAC-RERC) (Web Site: http://www.aac-rerc.com )
Link to text: http://aac-rerc.psu.edu/wordpressmu/RESNA-SDC/2010/05/13/handwriting-analysis-software/
