A multi-level representation paradigm for handwriting stroke generation

The study of rapid strokes is a direct or indirect prerequisite in many fundamental research projects, as well as in the design of many practical applications dealing with handwriting. This paper outlines a family of models, derived from the Kinematic Theory of Human Movements. It explains how the nested models in this family can be used coherently, in the context of a multi-level representation paradigm, to analyze both the trajectory and the velocity of strokes with a progressive amount of detail. In the context of a comprehensive survey of previously published work, this paper highlights many new features of stroke production, when the vectorial version of the theory is fully exploited. In this perspective, the Kinematic Theory is depicted as a potential tool to facilitate communications among researchers working in the multi-disciplinary field of Graphonomics. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.