New method for generating handwritten Chinese character samples

To test the implemented OCR system for Chinese characters, a very large number of handwritten Chinese character samples are required. The collecting work is time consuming and strenuous. In this paper, we present a new method for generating handwritten Chinese character samples. We introduce an algebra of geometric shapes, the geometric shapes have composite operations such as Fourier addition and Fourier multiplication. In our method, a small set of Chinese character samples are required. We use Fourier series descriptor to describe the shape of these specific Chinese characters. Handwritten Chinese character samples with various styles may be generated automatically by the following methods. (1) Changing the harmonics N of Fourier series. (2) With the Fourier addition operation, a random shape may be added to the shape of the existing Chinese character. (3) Combining styles of two or more kinds of handwritten Chinese character samples. Experiment result shows that our method is effective.