A Japanese Calligraphy Trainer Based on Skill Acquisition Through Haptization

We present an approach for implementing a virtual reality system targeted at learning handwritten characters. We especially aim at enabling learners to acquire important writing skills required to be a good writer in Japanese calligraphy. The proposed system provides a haptic channel allowing the learners to intuitively master an instructor’s fine motor skills through the sense of touch. We utilize a commercially available haptic device called PHANTOMTM for simulating a writing brush in a virtual learning space. The system implements a function for recording and replaying the instructor’s hand motions via the PAHNTOM device. The instructor’s writing techniques such as brush-strokes and pen pressures he/she performs/adds when writing characters are effectively presented to the learners via the PHANTOM device. Then, they can master how to write the recorded characters with feeling the instructor’s style of handwritings. We also invented a simple yet powerful 3D brush model for real-time visualization of handwritten characters without compromising the quality and reality of the characters. The users can start learning at any time and iterate training without worrying about resource consumptions such as papers and ink as much as they like. We conducted an experiment to validate the effectiveness of the proposed system for learning calligraphy in a virtual environment.