Paragon Software Group, a leading software developer for mobile devices and desktop computers, has announced the release of PenMetrics – a new graphometry-based technology that measures a wide range of individual handwriting characteristics and parameters. These parameters include letter width, height, inclination, and other measurements, and can be subjected to further analysis for a range of purposes, including determining whether or not a piece of text was written by a particular individual.
Graphometry is the science of determining constants in handwriting. PenMetrics is capable of processing both plain text (e.g., scanned from a paper handwriting sample) and dynamic text (collected using a range of mobile devices or graphics tablets). Proper handwriting is taught to children from an early age, and our individual style continues to develop over the years. Each person has his or her own unique way of writing, which can be decoded through handwriting analysis. The technology immediately determines constants in handwriting and provides full, detailed data on requested parameters. The collectable characteristics can be customized upon request.
The following characteristics can be collected (those marked with an asterisk can be measured only on selected devices and tablets):
Inclination angle of the letter
Time delay between strokes*
Input period for each stroke*
Width of the lower loops (relative)
Height of the lower loops (relative)
Width of the upper loops (relative)
Height of the upper loops (relative)
Time delay between words*
Input period for words*
Pauses between words*
Inclination angle of the pen*
Width of the upper-case letters
Height of the upper-case letters
Width of the letters with descenders
Height of the letters with descenders
Width of the letters with accented elements
Height of the letters with accented elements
Position of upper-case letters
Position of lower-case letters
Intervals between lines
Line inclination angle
Number of letters
Number of words
Number of lines
Number of paragraphs
Number of pages
Number of strokes
Paragon Software has applied fundamental principles of graphometry to the development of PenMetrics – a computer-based technology, which is now available to any organization involved in handwritten analysis, including clinics, research labs, forensic or criminal analysts, profilers of missing or dead persons, law enforcement agencies, and other organizations.
Prior to bringing the graphometric technology to the market, Paragon Software developed its proprietary PenReader handwriting recognition software beginning in 1997 for early PDA devices. Over the next few years, specialized operations such as orthographical correction of recognition results and support for more than 30 world languages were added to the PenReader engine, increasing the complexity, exposure and reliability of its handwriting identification. A full consumer version of PenReader with cursive text recognition was released in 2007. Unlike other input methods, PenReader adjusts to the user’s natural handwriting style rather than requiring any handwriting modifications or use of complex symbols like those used in early handwriting recognition software. PenReader can be used in place of the default keyboard in any application, and can be easily configured to integrate completely with any operating system. The company recently released the PenReader API as part of a software development kit aimed specifically at device manufacturers.