Brea, California (February 9, 2023) – Tamkang University, a top private university in Taiwan, has partnered with ViewSonic, a leading global provider of visual solutions, to promote digital calligraphy, preserving traditional culture in a more environmentally friendly way. Through Tamkang University's Digital ePen software and ViewSonic's ID1330 ViewBoard Pen Display, students can learn digital calligraphy, an experience that closely resembles the traditional writing of calligraphy on paper. This also allows students' artwork to be digitally preserved and easily shared through social media.
Ben-Hang Chang, a calligraphy master who works as a Professor in the Department of Chinese Literature at Tamkang University, said, "Ever since the 1980s, it has been my mission to preserve and promote calligraphy. In recent years, I realized that typing will gradually replace handwriting so I decided to work on digital calligraphy and led my team to develop the Digital ePen software for calligraphy learning. We are glad to collaborate with ViewSonic and create a total solution together that seamlessly integrates hardware and software, bringing a more intuitive calligraphy learning experience."
Tzung-Hang Lee, Dean of the College of Engineering at Tamkang University, said, "Before the implementation of ViewSonic's Pen Display, students required a writing pad that was connected to a monitor. Students needed to look up to check their writing on the screen while writing on the pad, which is not intuitive. Also, since the digitizer pen's pressure sensitivity was not enough, students had to apply pressure when writing, leading to sore wrists. ViewSonic's digitizer pens with sensitive pen pressure of the stylus make digital calligraphy easier to learn, allowing more students to enjoy the courses."
The ViewSonic ID1330 is a 13.3-inch ViewBoard Pen Display that teachers and students can easily bring to the classroom to use. The display is equipped with dual USB Type-C ports, meaning a single cable can charge the display while another transmits a touch signal. The digitizer pen has 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and can detect inclination angles of ±60 degrees. This allows students to see the strokes they are writing instantly and quickly become comfortable with digital calligraphy.
Rong Jun Lee, General Manager of the Electromagnetic, Touch, and Certification Business at ViewSonic, stated, "As a leader in the field of educational technology, ViewSonic continues innovating technology tools to promote digital teaching and learning. We are honored to cooperate with Tamkang University to implement our solution in the calligraphy course to digitalize calligraphy education. This also demonstrates that technology plays an important role to revolutionize education."
ViewSonic worked with Tamkang University to bring together traditional calligraphy and modern technology so that even in paperless digital form, calligraphy will continue to thrive as an indispensable element in traditional aesthetics and culture. Having successfully implemented digital calligraphy, Tamkang University will design more digital courses to encourage students to take up calligraphy and painting.
About Tamkang University's ePen World
Digital ePen calligraphy technology was launched in response to global demand for learning Chinese. Tamkang University, under the initiative of Ben-Hang Chang, Professor of the Department of Chinese Literature, cooperated with the university's Calligraphy Research Office, Center for Distance Education Development, and Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering. A cross-disciplinary team led by Professor Chang, Professor Chin-Hwa Kuo, Professor Wen-Bing Horng, and numerous research assistants successfully developed the world's foremost computer handwriting system after more than five years of research. Patent applications have been filed in various countries for this system, named ePen Handwriting System. Using an e-pen to write on a designated tablet or touch screen eliminates the need for traditional brushes, paper, ink, and copybooks, which is an innovative revolution in the world of writing tools. For more information about Tamkang University's ePen system, please visit epenworld.finearts.tku.edu.tw.
