New pen device for biometrical 3D pressure analysis of handwritten characters, words and signatures

The demand for biometric applications in security, human computer interaction and related areas is rapidly increasing. This paper presents an unique biometrical smart pen BiSP for personal identification and handwriting recognition that has been developed in our laboratory. The system is superior to many other biometric techniques which have considerable disadvantages in practice. Several ballpoint like prototypes based on integrated sensors have been designed and constructed. In this report we focus on BiSP systems based on pressure sensors and on microphones. Pressure sensors record the physical pressure exerted on the ballpoint pen in three dimensions during handwriting. The BiSP system based on microphones acquires the sound produced during handwriting on normal paper. Features of these devices as well as the evaluation of the recorded signals are discussed. Preliminary results of data processing show possible application areas of our new device - signature verification, writer identification and handwritten text recognition.