Task-related population characteristics in handwriting analysis

An analysis of features extracted from handwriting samples according to writer demographics and writing task characteristics is presented. The individual demographics studied here include age, gender and handedness, while the handwriting tasks considered include writing the individual signature, form-filling, cheque-completion and constructing free-form written text. By analysing different features of handwriting, the authors establish a link between a writer's individual characteristics including demographic properties, the handwriting task being attempted and quantifiable features of handwriting such as pen velocity, acceleration and slant. Additionally, imitated or 'forged' handwriting is also analysed on exactly the same basis. The analysis is performed on a newly collected database of handwriting samples collected from a population of 150 writers, and which can be utilised in both forensic document inspection and automatic handwriting analysis research. All handwriting samples, including forgery attempts, were recorded both temporally as a series of pen positional coordinates and scanned at a resolution of 600 dpi to enable both dynamic and static processing.