The Wanda Measurement Tool for Forensic Document Examination

Authors

  • Merijn van Erp Computational Pathology Group, Radboud University Medical Center
  • Louis Vuurpijt
  • Katrin Franke Fraunhofer IPK Department of Pattern Recognition
  • L Schomaker Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Groningen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31974/jfde28-5-14

Keywords:

WANDA measurement tool (WAM), Forensic Information System on Handwriting (FISH), writer identification, handwriting measurements

Abstract

This paper introduces the WANDA Measurement tool (WAM) for forensic document examination. The WAM is an essential component of WANDA, a workbench that supports the user in the complete task flow of processing documents, measuring characteristic features in handwritten documents, and writer search. By using technologies like plug-ins. XML, and client/server modularity, a system was created that is easy to maintain. portable, and highly adaptable. Within WANDA, the WAM is the tool for interactively measuring handwriting features. The WAM was developed based on recommendations from a comparison study between two forensic writeridentification systems, Script and FISH. It incorporates nine measurements identical to those of FISH, and a new allograph measurement that is discussed in this paper. Furthermore, its intuitive new user-interface reduces the steep learning curve and streamlines the working process. A comparison of features previously measured by forensic experts using FISH, with measurements obtained through WANDA, assessed the precision of the WAM. It has shown that the small deviations yielded fall well within the possible imprecision caused by scanning or preprocessing operations, and far below the standard deviation of FISH measurements. Finally, results from usability tests with expert and novice users show that the WAM is easy to use.

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Published

2018-12-31

How to Cite

van Erp, M., Vuurpijt, L., Franke, K., & Schomaker, L. (2018). The Wanda Measurement Tool for Forensic Document Examination. Journal of Forensic Document Examination, 28, 5–14. https://doi.org/10.31974/jfde28-5-14

Issue

Vol. 28 (2018): 2018 Journal of Forensic Document Examination

Section

Research Papers - Pattern Recognition

License

©2024 Journal of Forensic Document Examination (JFDE). All rights reserved.  Written permission must be obtained from the editor of the JFDE at journal.jfde@gmail.com before copying, transmitting, storing, printing, or using for any other means.  Authors may copy their article for educational and research purposes exclusively, retain the research data, and receive proper attribution and credit for their work.