A VR-based calligraphy writing system with force reflection

Painting software for art production currently uses the mouse, keyboard and graphic tablet as the primary input devices. However, for Chinese-style calligraphy, these devices have difficulty replicating the effect of the traditional calligraphy brush. In this paper, we aim to develop a calligraphy writing system in a virtual environment, using a force-reflection joystick as the input device. A virtual brush model, including the emulation of both geometric- and physical-based deformations, is proposed to enhance the veracity of the visual effect. In experiments, the performance of the proposed system is compared with results using a calligraphy brush and a graphic tablet.