Graphonomics is the interdisciplinary field directed towards the scientific analysis of the handwriting

Handwriting

Handwriting is a person's particular & individual style of writing with pen or pencil, which contrasts with "Hand" which is an impersonal and formalised writing style in several historical varieties...

 process and the handwritten product. Researchers in handwriting recognition

Handwriting recognition

Handwriting recognition is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwritten input from sources such as paper documents, photographs, touch-screens and other devices. The image of the written text may be sensed "off line" from a piece of paper by optical scanning or...

, forensic handwriting examination

Forensic handwriting examination

Forensic handwriting examination may refer to:*questioned document examination*forensic palaeography or diplomatics...

, kinesiology

Kinesiology

Kinesiology, also known as human kinetics is the scientific study of human movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, mechanical, and psychological mechanisms. Applications of kinesiology to human health include: biomechanics and orthopedics, rehabilitation, such as physical and occupational...

, psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

, computer science

Computer science

Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...

, artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...

, paleography and neuroscience

Neuroscience

Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...

 cooperate in order to achieve a better understanding of the human skill

Skill

A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...

 of handwriting. Research in graphonomics generally involves handwriting movement analysis

Handwriting movement analysis

Handwriting movement analysis is the study and analysis of the movements involved in handwriting and drawing. It forms an important part of graphonomics, which became established after the "International Workshop on Handwriting Movement Analysis" in 1982 in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. It would...

 in one form or another.

History and conferences

The first international conference relating to graphonomics was held in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, in July 1982. The term 'graphonomics' was used there for the first time.

The second conference was held in July 1985 in Hong Kong and, at that meeting, a decision was taken to form the International Graphonomics Society. The IGS became a legal non-profit organization under Netherlands law on January 30, 1987.

Subsequently, an international conference, symposium and/or workshop has been held every two years. Past events have been held in various locations with most events having a specific theme, as follows:

• Nijmegen, The Netherlands (1982), Motor Aspects of Handwriting
• Hong Kong (1985), Graphonomics
• Montreal, QC, Canada (1987), Third International Symposium on Handwriting and Computer Applications
• Trondheim, Norway (1989), Fourth IGS Conference. The Development of Graphic Skills (DOGS)
• Tempe, AZ, USA (1991), Fifth Handwriting Conference of the IGS. Motor Control of Handwriting
• Paris, France (1993), Sixth International Conference on Handwriting and Drawing (ICOHD93)
• London, ON, Canada (1995), Seventh Biennial Conference of the International Graphonomics Society. Basic and Applied Issues in Handwriting and Drawing Research. Note: this conference was held jointly with Annual Symposium of the Association of Forensic Document Examiners
• Genoa, Italy (1997), Eighth Biennial Conference of the International Graphonomics Society. Motor Control and Neuroscience
• Singapore, Singapore (1999), 9th Biennial Conference of the International Graphonomics Society. Written Oriental Languages
• Nijmegen, The Netherlands (2001), Tenth Biennial Conference of the International Graphonomics Society. Motor Disorders
• Scottsdale, AZ, USA (2003), 11th Conference of the International Graphonomics Society. Connecting Sciences Using Graphonomlc Research
• Salerno, Italy (2005), 12th Biennial Conference of the International Graphonomics Society. Advances in Graphonomics: Perceiving, Deciding, Acting
• Melbourne, Australia (2007), 13th Conference of the International Graphonomics Society
• Dijon, France (2009), 14th Biennial Conference of the International Graphonomics Society. Advances in Graphonomics
• Live Aqua Cancun, Mexico (2011), The 15th International Graphonomics Society Conference. Translational Graphonomics

International Graphonomics Society

As mentioned above, the IGS was created at the 1985 international conference with the main purpose being to coordinate and assist in the growth and development of the field of graphonomics in all its forms. This has been done through conferences, workshops and publication of proceedings from those events.

IGS Publications

As the main academic body for graphonomics, the IGS publishes a biannual bulletin as well as proceedings of the biennial conference. The Bulletin of the International Graphonomics Society is published by the IGS in March and November each year and it is the primary means of communication among IGS members and the public. A complete list of past BIGS issues is available online. Conference proceedings are published in the form of a peer-reviewed scientific journal or book shortly after each of the conferences.

Research topics

Some research topics in graphonomics include:

• Handwriting regeneration - the simulated production of a given recording of handwriting movement. This is realized not using recorded kinematic or kinetic signals but by an abstracted model of human movement control.

• Handwriting generation - the process of producing handwriting (e.g. pen tip) movements. This usually implies the use of a computer simulation model which can generate handwriting movement and/or shape, producing newly generated text in a manner similar to the handwriting of an individual person.

• Fluency - Measures of the fluency of handwriting include the integral of the absolute of the acceleration
  Acceleration
  In physics, acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with time. In one dimension, acceleration is the rate at which something speeds up or slows down. However, since velocity is a vector, acceleration describes the rate of change of both the magnitude and the direction of velocity. ...
  
   signal, or alternatively the absolute of the integral of the jerk time function.