Improving Visibility and Reducing Resistance of Writers to Fusion of Handwritten and Type Characters

Improving Visibility and Reducing Resistance of Writers to Fusion of Handwritten and Type Characters Mikako Sasaki (Meiji University) Junki Saito, Satoshi Nakamura (Meiji University)

How do you communicate with others? Face-to-face Video Calling Chat Message Card

One of the communication in Japan Japan is caught on the culture of “New Year’s card”

Survey on handwriting Q. Have you feel the goodness of handwriting? Agree a Q. Which are you happy to receive New Year’s card written by hand or typeface? Neither Typeface 5% 6% little 10% Agree 35% Strongly agree 55% 2014, Zebra Corporation By Hand 88% 2011, Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs

Survey on handwriting Q. Have you feel the goodness of handwriting? Agree a little 10% Q. Which are you happy to receive New Year’s card written by hand or printed? Neither Printed 5% 6% Agree 35% Strongly agree Handwriting can feel the trouble of writing and By Hand 55% the unique characteristics. 88% 2014, Zebra Corporation 2011, Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs

Resistance to handwriting But, most Japanese have resistance to handwriting a message themselves. 2014, Survey on handwriting (Zebra Corporation) More than 80% of Japanese people feel their own’s handwriting are bad. → Ashamed of showing handwritten text to others!

Resistance to handwriting But, most Japanese have resistance to handwriting a message themselves. 2014, Survey on handwriting (Zebra Corporation) More than 80% of Japanese Many Japanese actually want to people write byare hand, bad at handwriting. but use typeface from bad conscious! → Ashamed of showing handwritten text to others!

Typeface Easily type, and create a beautiful text message. The type of typeface is a wide variety. We had more opportunity to see in daily life!

Typeface Easily type, and create a beautiful text message. The type of typeface is a wide variety. But… We had more opportunity to see in daily life! Shape is off-the-shelf, so it is possible to give a mechanical impression.

Problems as communication Handwriting Typeface Writers are ashamed of showing own’s handwriting Readers receive a mechanical impression to others. to typeface. We want to solve these problems!

Fusion of handwriting and typeface “A Method to Increase Reader’s Empathy by Merging Their Handwritten Characters and Text in Speech Balloon in Digital Comics” [Saito ’17] Handwriting Typeface Fusion character

Fusion of handwriting and typeface “A Method to Increase Reader’s Empathy by Merging Their Handwritten Characters and Text in Speech Balloon in Digital Comics” [Saito ’17] The reader has a favorable impression? Handwriting Typeface Fusion character

Fusion of handwriting and typeface “A Method to Increase Reader’s Empathy by Merging Their Handwritten Characters and Text in Speech Balloon in Digital Comics” [Saito ’17] However, not clarify the reason that people had a favorable impression to the fusion character. Handwriting Typeface Fusion character

Goal of this study Handwriting Typeface Fusion character 1. People have positive feeling to fusion character? 2. What a positive feeling to fusion character comes from?

Hypothesis Hypothesis Fusion character has both characteristics of handwriting and typeface? Characteristics of handwriting People feel a personal touch and appreciate the trouble of writing by hand. Characteristics of typeface High visibility and readability ➡︎ People reduce resistance to own’s handwriting.

To test a hypothesis… We perform an experiment to evaluate the impression to the fusion character.

In this study… 3 factors of “visibility”, ”readability” and “legibility” decide whether a character is easy to read We focus on “Universal design font (UD Font)” that was made in consideration of these factors, and perform experiments.

Method to generate fusion character We use Saito et al.’s method. Procedure to generate fusion character ❶ Mathematization of handwriting ❷ Mathematization of typeface ❸ Fusion of handwriting and typeface

Method to generate fusion character ❶ Mathematization of handwriting Obtain coordinate data of the line’s point Spline interpolation ❷ Mathematization of typeface ❸ Fusion of handwriting and typeface Mathematization by Fourier series expansion

Example of mathematization by Fourier series expansion Y = 229.95cos(0t) + 0sin(0t) + 48.82cos(1t) + -0.23sin(1t) + 4.75cos(2t) + -0.05sin(2t) + 44.24cos(3t) + -0.7sin(3t) + 16.89cos(4t) + -0.36sin(4t) + … X = 272.08cos(0t) + 0sin(0t) +16.62 cos(1t) + -0.09sin(1t) + 29.81cos(2t) + -0.32sin(2t) + -2.91cos(3t) + 0.05sin(3t) + -37.67cos(4t) + 0.8 sin(4t) + … http://satoken.nkmr.io/Char2Fourier

• http://satoken.nkmr.io/Char2Fourier

Method to generate fusion character ❶ Mathematization of handwriting ❷ Mathematization of typeface の Trace typeface. Calculate thickness and core of typeface ❸ Fusion of handwriting and typeface Fourier series expansion

Method to generate fusion character ❶ Mathematization of handwriting ❷ Mathematization of typeface ❸ Fusion of handwriting and typeface Weighted average on the basis of ❶, ❷ Fusion character = Typeface × α + Handwriting × (1ーα) Typeface Handwriting a=0 a=0.25 a=0.5 a=0.75 a=1.0

Experiment to evaluate the impression In this study… We performed an experiment with message card. Divide into the writer and the reader, and perform the experiment.

Build the data set of message cards 15 participants write ”Thank you” in Japanese. Generate fusion character Synthesize fusion character on message card

Build the data set of message cards 15 participants write ”Thank you” in Japanese. Generate fusion character Synthesize fusion character on message card

Fonts used experiments We selected two typefaces of “Mincho” and “Gothic”. Mincho Gothic In Japan, these are among the most commonly used typefaces.

Examples of created fusion character Mincho Handwriting (Fusion ratio 0.0) Fusion character (Fusion ratio 0.5) Typeface (Fusion ratio 1.0) Fusion character (Fusion ratio 0.5) Typeface (Fusion ratio 1.0) Gothic Handwriting (Fusion ratio 0.0)

Build the data set of message cards 15 participants write ”Thank you” in Japanese. Generate fusion character Synthesize fusion character on message card

Examples of message card used in experiment Handwriting (Fusion ratio 0.0) Typeface (Fusion ratio 1.0) Fusion character (Fusion ratio 0.5)

Reason that we set 0.5 in the fusion character Handwriting (Fusion ratio 0.0) Typeface (Fusion ratio 1.0) Because it showed that people had most positive feeling in 0.5 of fusion ratio. Fusion character (Fusion ratio 0.5)

Procedure of the experiments Writer’s side Evaluate A writer A writer’s own card Only evaluate card that the writer’s own was written. Reader’s side Evaluate ••• A reader All writer’s cards Evaluate cards that all of the writer were written.

Items of the experiments ❶ Which message card… - the writers wanted to send? - the readers wanted to receive? ❷ What impression - the writers had for the message card? - the readers had for the message card?

First experiments ❶ Which message card… - the writers wanted to send? - the readers wanted to receive? ❷ What impression - the writers had for the message card? - the readers had for the message card?

Experimental procedure：Writer’s side Own’s handwriting typeface Present Fusion character 15 participants of the writer Rank 3 type of cards

Experimental procedure：Writer’s side 1st = 3 point 2nd = 1 point Present 3rd = 0 point 15 participants of the writer Rank

Experimental procedure：Reader’s side writer’s handwriting typeface Present Fusion character 15 participants of the writer Rank 3 type of cards

Between each trial… We presented an image of a Japanese character in variety of typefaces for 3 seconds to participants. ➡︎ Because the ranking was not affected by a comparison with the previous or next card.

Writer’s results：Mean of the degree to which writers wanted to send Handwriting 3.5 Fusion character Typeface ＊ ＊ Mincho Gothic 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 -0.5 ＊p < 0.05

Writer’s results：Mean of the degree to which writers wanted to send Handwriting 3.5 ＊ Fusion character Typeface ＊ ＊p < 0.05 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Mincho The-0.5 writers want to send cards in theGothic fusion character!

Reader’s results：Mean of the degree to which readers wanted to receive Handwriting 3 Fusion character ＊ Typeface ＊ 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Mincho Gothic ＊p < 0.05

Reader’s results：Mean of the degree to which readers wanted to receive Handwriting 3 ＊ Fusion character Typeface ＊ ＊p < 0.05 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Mincho Gothic The readers want to receive cards in the fusion character!

Summary：First experimental results From first experiments… The writers The writers want to send a card written with fusion character of own’s handwriting and typeface. The readers The reader want to receive a card written with fusion character of writer’s handwriting and typeface.

Second experiments ❶ Which message card… - the writers wanted to send? - the readers wanted to receive? ❷ What impression - the writers had for the message card? - the readers had for the message card?

Experimental procedure：Writer’s side Present 15 participants of the writer Evaluate using SD method Card written with own’s handwriting, typeface, or fusion character

Experimental procedure：Reader’s side Present ••• 15 participants of the reader Evaluate using SD method Card written with all writer’s handwriting, typeface, or fusion character

Adjectives using an evaluation We selected adjectives from related work on impression of typeface and handwriting, and SD method. Adjectives on visibility and Adjectives on complexity of Adjectives on characteristics of readability handwriting handwriting  Hard-to-read  Familiar ーEasy-to-read  Hesitant ーUnfamiliar ーConfident  Simple  BadーBeautiful  Resistant ーElaborate  Indistinct ーAcceptable  GenericーUnique ーDistinct

Adjectives using an evaluation We selected adjectives from related work on impression of typeface and handwriting, Writer’s side and SD method. Adjectives on visibility and Adjectives on complexity of Adjectives on characteristics of readability handwriting handwriting  Hard-to-read  Familiar ーEasy-to-read  Hesitant ーUnfamiliar ーConfident  Simple  BadーBeautiful  Resistant ーElaborate  Indistinct ーAcceptable  GenericーUnique ーDistinct

Adjectives using an evaluation We selected adjectives from related Reader’s sidework on impression of typeface and handwriting, and SD method. Adjectives on visibility and Adjectives on complexity of Adjectives on characteristics of readability handwriting handwriting  Hard-to-read  Familiar ーEasy-to-read  Hesitant ーUnfamiliar ーConfident  Simple  BadーBeautiful  Resistant ーElaborate  Indistinct ーAcceptable  GenericーUnique ーDistinct

Between each trial… We presented an image of a Japanese character in variety of typefaces for 3 seconds to participants. ➡︎ Because the evaluation was not affected by a comparison with the previous or next card.

Writer’s results：Mean of impression evaluation Mincho Gothic

Ground of the graphs Mincho Gothic

Ground of the graphs Mincho Gothic

Ground of the graphs Mincho Gothic

Focusing on adjectives of visibility… Mincho Gothic

Focusing on adjectives of visibility… Mincho Evaluation for the fusion character is higher than for the handwriting Gothic

Focusing on adjectives of complexity of handwriting… Mincho Gothic

Focusing on adjectives of complexity of handwriting… Mincho Evaluation for the fusion character is higher than for the handwriting Gothic

Comparing terms of adjective pairs between fonts Mincho Gothic

Comparing terms of adjective pairs between fonts Mincho Adjectives on visibility and readability Mincho > Gothic Gothic

Why? Related to the thickness of character? Typeface Fusion character Mincho Gothic Thickness in fusion character depends on the thickness in typeface. → Gothic is thicker, so the evaluation was affected?

Writer’s results：one-way analysis of variance We performed one-way analysis of variance to determine whether the type of character was a factor. Mincho Gothic

Writer’s results：one-way analysis of variance We performed one-way analysis of variance to determine whether the type of character was a factor. Mincho Significant statistical differences in all adjective pairs Gothic

In the terms of “bad−beautiful”… Mincho Gothic

In the terms of “bad−beautiful”… Mincho The differences between handwriting and fusion character, typeface have an effect on the change of impression. Gothic

Reader’s results：Mean of impression evaluation Mincho Unfamiliar ー Familiar Gothic Unfamiliar ー Familiar

Ground of the graphs Mincho Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar Gothic Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar

Ground of the graphs Mincho Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar Gothic Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar

Ground of the graphs Mincho Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar Gothic Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar

Focusing on adjectives of visibility… Mincho Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar Gothic Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar

Focusing on adjectives of visibility… Mincho Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar Evaluation for the fusion character is higher than for the handwriting Gothic Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar

Focusing on adjectives of characteristics of handwriting… Mincho Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar Gothic Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar

Focusing on adjectives of characteristics of handwriting… Mincho Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar Evaluation for the fusion character is higher than for typeface. Gothic Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar

Characteristics of handwriting in the fusion character There is a difference in the shape of fusion character by the writer.

Focusing on the character Angle of character’s line and gap of character differ by virtue of the writer.

Characteristics of handwriting in the fusion character There is a difference in the shape of fusion character by the writer. Fusion character appears the characteristics of handwriting?

Comparing terms of adjective pairs between typefaces Mincho Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar Gothic Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar

Comparing terms of adjective pairs between fonts Mincho Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar Item of “Familiar–Unfamiliar”, Handwriting < Fusion character Gothic Unfamiliar Familiar Familiar ー ー Unfamiliar

Why? Handwriting Typeface Fusion character Fusion character isn’t completely typeface, but retains the elements of personal handwriting?

Summary：Second experimental results From second experiments… The writers  Resistance to handwriting → Reduce ↓  Visibility and readability → Improve ↑ The readers  Characteristics of handwriting  Visibility and readability → Retain → → Improve ↑

Conclusion of this study The writer of message card Fusion character is… Improve visibility and readability → Reduce resistance to handwriting Want to send the card with fusion character! The reader of message card Fusion character is… Improve visibility and readability & Retain characteristics of handwriting Want to receive the card with fusion character!

Future Work Develop the message card application or service using the fusion character

Prototype system

Future Work Develop the message card application or service using the fusion character The exchange of card is easily possible on smartphones?

Difference between “Typeface” and “Font” In this presentation, I use differently both “Typeface” and “Font”. Typeface ABCDE ABCDE ABCDE ABCDE ABCDE ABCDE ABCDE Font ABCDE ABCDE The mean of broad sense The mean of particular kind

About the mathematization of typeface Calculation x = f(t), y = g(t) の Decide new core h(t) is distance from by using Circle of (f(t), g(t)) to calculation tangent point of typeface Stroke calculation x = f(t) y = g(t) r = h(t)

Fusion of handwriting and typeface Derivation of handwriting’s thickness Area of typeface / Thickness of character = Area per unit length → Calculate “h(t)” of thickness given handwriting Stroke calculation of handwriting x = f(t), y = g(t), r = h(t)

Previous study We conducted a reputation survey to fusion character. Handwriting Typeface Fusion character  Fusion character VS Typeface VS Handwriting ➡︎ Positive impression to fusion character.  Own’s handwriting VS Other’s handwriting ➡︎ Not necessarily more positive feeling to fusion character with own’s handwriting.

Previous study We conducted a reputation survey to fusion character. Handwriting Typeface Fusion character  Fusion character VS Typeface VS Handwriting ➡︎ Positive impression to fusion character. But, can’t be still clear a handwriting positive feeling  Own’s handwriting VS what Other’s to fusionmore character ➡︎ Not necessarily positive feeling to fusion character with own’s handwriting.