Analysis of Gender Differences in Online Handwriting Signals for Enhancing e-Health and e-Security Applications

Abstract

Handwriting is a complex perceptual–motor skill that is mastered around the age of 8. Although its computerized analysis has been utilized in many biometric and digital health applications, the possible effect of gender is frequently neglected. The aim of this paper is to analyze different online handwritten tasks performed by intact subjects and explore gender differences in commonly used temporal, kinematic, and dynamic features. The differences were explored in the BIOSECUR-ID database. We have identified a significant gender difference in on-surface/in-air time of genuine and skilled forgery signatures, on-surface time in cursive letters and numbers, and pressure, speed, and acceleration in text written in capital letters. Our findings accent the need to consider gender as an important confounding factor in studies dealing with online handwriting signal processing.Handwriting is a complex perceptual–motor skill that is mastered around the age of 8. Although its computerized analysis has been utilized in many biometric and digital health applications, the possible effect of gender is frequently neglected. The aim of this paper is to analyze different online handwritten tasks performed by intact subjects and explore gender differences in commonly used temporal, kinematic, and dynamic features. The differences were explored in the BIOSECUR-ID database. We have identified a significant gender difference in on-surface/in-air time of genuine and skilled forgery signatures, on-surface time in cursive letters and numbers, and pressure, speed, and acceleration in text written in capital letters. Our findings accent the need to consider gender as an important confounding factor in studies dealing with online handwriting signal processing.