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J.UCS Special Issue on Dynamic Symbolic Languages
Hermann Maurer (Graz University of Technology,
Graz, Austria and JOANNEUM RESEARCH, Austria)
hmaurer@iicm.edu
Abstract: This special issue of J.UCS deals with the beginning of
MIRACLE. MIRACLE is more than a project, it is an undertaking that
will deeply influence mankind in the long run. Exactly where it will
go, how fast it will develop, and whether it will have rather
universal applications or only succeed in special niches cannot be
foreseen at this stage.
MIRACLE is the acronym for Multimedia Information Repository, A
Computer-based Language Effort. The main credo behind MIRACLE is that
computers will be ubiquitous before long, like cellular phones today,
and might well be extensions of such phones.
This belief and a realistic scenario are explained in the first paper
"The Future of PCs and Implications on Society". However, if we always
have a powerful computer with us then clearly we will consume (almost)
all information via such computers, rather than e.g. reading it in a
traditional newspaper or book. Taking this for granted has tremendous
implications: not only does it change how we will 'read' things, but
it will also change how ideas and emotions are recorded - not by using
static text and static pictures, but by using a mixture of media-rich
material and a new symbolism. In such a symbolism, symbols are not
frozen in time, but subject to temporal changes (in size, colour,
position, etc.), changes providing new powerful tools to record
knowledge in a more efficient way. This may sometimes be even possible
independently of natural languages, much as signs "airport" or dynamic
sequences in cartoon-movies are understood by everyone.
It is the second paper "Foundations of MIRACLE: Multimedia Information Repository, A Computer-supported Language Effort" that shows how such a
new dynamic symbolism might be designed using experiences made in such
diverse areas as constructed languages (like Esperanto or Glosa),
gesture languages for hearing challenged persons, symbolic languages
(such as BLISS or Elephant's memory), and dozens of symbolic notations
from musical scores to sending messages between ships by means of
flags.
Although the ultimate dream would be to have a symbolic language rich
enough to formulate anything we want to record, and this independently
of culture and natural language (ending the translation nightmare in
Brussels and elsewhere) and still easy to learn, this may not be
achievable. More optimistically speaking, it may not be achievable
without much experimentation. Thus, trying to apply the fundamental
ideas to restricted application areas may not just be useful in its
own right by allowing to use dynamic symbols and multimedia material
without traditional written language in some niches, but could lead to
sufficient insights to produce a universal approach at some stage. A
first glimpse of specific application areas is provided in the third
paper "Applications of MIRACLE: Working With Dynamic Visual Information".
It is the belief of all authors of the papers in this issue that we
are just starting what might be a long, even generation-long,
process. However, we want to encourage many researches to consider the
novel possibilities, and we are eager to cooperate, to indeed
establish a sizeable MIRACLE community. This is one of the reasons why
this issue contains "A Cross-disciplinary Bibliography on Visual
Languages for Information Sharing and Archiving". This special issue
together with the bibliography can be considered the cornerstones of
future MIRACLE efforts. We are in the process of compiling a much
more extensive bibliography that will also include topics and papers
covering fringe areas. Anyone interested or knowing of contributions
that should be included and have been overlooked should send an email
to either Daniela Camhy or Hermann Maurer.
As Managing Editor-in-Chief of J.UCS I always wish you enjoyment when
reading a new issue. This time I wish for more: spread the information
that written language as we now know it is likely to be partially
replaced by new ways of recording knowledge; that MIRACLE is the first
major effort in this direction; and that with this issue, J.UCS will
at some stage be remembered as opening a new horizon for information
sharing and archiving.
Graz, Austria, April 2003
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