Construction of a support system for learning character balance in transcription for beginners

Learning character balance is important in calligraphy. Transcription is the practice method for learning characters, however it has some problems, for example, it is hard to judge intuitively whether character balance is correct, because the sheet of white paper and the sample image are separate. Therefore, the goal of our study is the construction of a support system for learning character balance in transcription, for beginners. The proposed system uses a tablet-type device. Learners practice transcription in Indian ink on a sheet of white paper laid on top of the tablet-type device which is displaying a sample character. Learners can see the contents displayed by the tablet-type device because a sheet of white paper is thin. Moreover, the tablet-type device can recognize the touch of a Japanese brush wrapped in conductive tape. The system offers a function that changes the sample characters based on the learner´s skill level to withdraw from the system support. We have developed a prototype system, and evaluated its effectiveness through actual use of the system.