The task of handwriting has always been linked to the psychological and educational well being of an individual. Even now recent research professes that the lessons of handwriting have such a beneficial impact that such learning is paramount to healthy mental development. Consequently, to lose this important skill due to a stroke or other debilitation is immeasurably distressing. The physical degeneration has an even greater psychologically negative effect. To offset this regression an occupational therapist must spend many hours helping this person gain back some if not all of their handwriting skills. In order to more efficiently facilitate the work of the therapist, the focus of this project is to develop an assistive technology, which can be used by the patient in their home or a professional setting. This system would be capable of physically helping the individual perform handwriting motions and then monitoring their own performance through sensory interfaces. The advantage of this "writing trainer" is that the occupational therapist can preprogram or select routines, which the patient can go through on their own. Working with preeminent authorities in the field the Investigator will develop a system to assist and accelerate the learning or relearning of the art of handwriting. Summary of Anticipated Results and Implications: A comprehensive analysis of the conceptual system will evaluate selected initial designs. The system, which best exceeds the design constraints and parameters will then undergo a final optimization. Kinematic analysis, stress and strain analysis, even life cycle testing will result in a thorough performance mapping of the design. This analytical data from the Phase I research will verify the optimum design which will be fabricated and tested for the Phase II project. Though the focus of this proposal is for a rehabilitative device, the writing trainer has the potential to be used as an educational aid in the elementary school system. In these two areas alone the commercial potential is almost unfathomable. It has been attested by experts in handwriting study that this system could be envisioned in every school in the country.
