  Handwritten signatures are biometric traits at the center of debate in the
scientific community. Over the last 40 years, the interest in signature studies
has grown steadily, having as its main reference the application of automatic
signature verification, as previously published reviews in 1989, 2000, and 2008
bear witness. Ever since, and over the last 10 years, the application of
handwritten signature technology has strongly evolved, and much research has
focused on the possibility of applying systems based on handwritten signature
analysis and processing to a multitude of new fields. After several years of
haphazard growth of this research area, it is time to assess its current
developments for their applicability in order to draw a structured way forward.
This perspective reports a systematic review of the last 10 years of the
literature on handwritten signatures with respect to the new scenario, focusing
on the most promising domains of research and trying to elicit possible future
research directions in this subject.
