Oriscript

What is it?

Oriscript is the first ever writing system that can be written with virtually any object, anywhere. It is called Oriscript because I originally made it as a way of writing by folding paper, like origami. It can even be written by placing objects on a surface, or with your hands. It is not a language, but rather a writing system for any language. Oriscript has the potential to be a 'bridge writing system', a system that can be easily read by both people and cameras. It can also be read and written just by touch (so by the blind too!)

After reading through this website for 20 minutes, you should be able to read and write Oriscript. I'm still changing a few things here and there, trying to make it easier to use. I like the idea that i could eventually land on a perfect implementation, where visual communication could become platform-agnostic, across the physical and virtual world.

Oriscript: A system for writing messages with anything, in the dark, to robots. If you really needed to.

Platform-free

Oriscript can be written with any objects, on any surface. Do you like origami? Can't find a pen? Can you only move your eyes?

Steganography

It's deceptive. The system is designed to look unintentional and unintelligible. Mark your message on a dusty window and nobody will notice. Every table, magazine, and piece of paper is a secret forum.

• Wrinkle after reading!! Messages written on paper can be easily destroyed just by slightly scrunching the paper, no fire necessary. This makes disposing of notes very fast and discrete.
• Steganography is the practice of hiding plain-text messages in plain sight (as opposed to Cryptography). Whilst technically oriscript is a codified version of a plain-text message, the encryption method is publicly available for anyone to read. Thus, steganography is Oriscript's primary strength, not encryption.

Language Support

There is currently support for all major european and slavic characters (english, german, russian etc.) with support for other alphabets coming soon.

• Some asian alphabets are problematic because of the enormous scope of character variations. I can only suggest a romanized approach for now, until an elegant way of including korean, japanese and chinese alphabets comes to light. You can try to solve this problem phonetically, romaji-style.
• Feel free to make and use your own character tables to customise the system to your liking and add extra security within the group of people you communicate with (read the "how it works" to learn Oriscript first though.)

How it works

This tutorial will show you how to use Oriscript. This can be done just with your hands by folding paper, or using a pen or coin to write or indent the lines on a surface. You can even use commonplace objects like matches or pens to mark out the message in plain sight on other surfaces.

Whereas most writing systems use a diverse array of symbols, Oriscript makes use of cells, indicators and notches. Oriscript accounts for all the different symbols in alphabets by converting them into a numerical value, and then displaying that value. The cells are the squares which contain everything, the indicators are the diagonal lines that cross the whole cell, and the notches are the little lines around the edge. (A lot of people assume that one cell equals one letter. This is not the case.)

So start off by getting a flat surface and some straight objects, or a piece of paper, preferably A4. To get a sense of the cell sizes without using loads of objects to represent each one, you can look at the width and height of your indicator, and imagine a square around it to give you a sense of scale. To create the cells on paper, I generally recommend using paper folded 5 times which gives you 32 cells and 256 ‘notches’, but you can start off with a smaller grid. Any paper can be used as long as it is roughly square. You don’t want the cells to be too narrow, or too small to crease. You can always just draw a grid of cells on some paper to follow the tutorial if you just want to the learn the system first.

The indicators

alphabet

diagonal starting top left

mathematics

diagonal starting bottom left

punctuation

alphabet indicator, intersected by a shorter perpendicular line in the top left corner

special

mathematics indicator, intersected by a shorter perpendicular line in the top right corner

tags

both diagonals

Note: In the original reference images, the shorter line for punctuation and special is intersecting at approximately 1/5th of the full diagonal from the nearest corner.

You can put an indicator in any cell to show if the following content will be letters, numbers, special characters like @, or a tag. It is important to start every message with an indicator so the reader knows which list to translate your message into. At any point in your message you can insert a new Indicator to change the type of content. The character tables are at the bottom of this page. Indicators use only diagonal lines. So start off by marking the alphabet indicator on what you are writing on.

• Alphabet is simply the letters from A to Z in lower case.
• Mathematics provides the 0-9 and the most common mathematical operators.
• Punctuation allows you to add spaces, change case and so on.
• Special are a continuation of punctuation. Useful symbols like brackets.
• Tags are used to give the reader an idea of what the Oriscript message is about, like 'phone number', 'email' or 'SOS'. You can also give people directions with left and right. Once there is a oriscript-readin app, you will be able to use oriscript to give directions to robots too :D

Notches

There are 8 notches in each cell, which are placed on the left side of each side of the cell, in a rough pair. There is some flexibility in where you mark the notch, as long as it is obvious if the marker is 'closest to the middle' or the marker 'closest to the corner'. It is also no trouble to read when there are two markers together (positions 1+2, 3+4, 5+6, 7+8), as you know both positions are filled. The last notch diagram illustrates this quite well. Be careful where you mark them. Realy try to visualize all the notches in the cell clearly. So remember, ask yourself before marking a notch, does it look like it is closer to the corner or the middle?

The markers are also on the left of each side so that you can have adjacent cells and still be able to know which one the notch is in. This is especially helpful when folding Oriscript on paper, as notch creases can sometimes overlap into adjacent cells.

We are going to write 'abacus'. We use notches to count to the value that represents a certain letter. Each cell contains 8 cell positions for counting through. Each letter is associated with a number, or as I call them, 'notch values'. For example 'a' is 2 (I'll explain why it's not 1 in a moment). You can check the notch value of all characters in the character table below. So we would count to the second position after the previous notch and mark it to represent 'a'. To write the next character, you start counting from the next free notch position. We don't start a new cell for the next letter, as that would waste a lot of notch positions and take up more space. Compare the second and third digram above to see how you count the notches in a cell.

Start writing in the top left cell. Each cell, and the message as a whole, are read clockwise spiraling to the center of the page. This means that when you are writing it on paper, you use all the outside cells around the edge first.

So in your first cell, mark a notch in the second position to indicate 'a'. Then the next notch (b, we're writing abacus remember!) should be marked 3 (shift, a, b) positions after the 'a' notch. Compare the second and third notch diagrams to get a sense of how to count around the cells if you can't work it out. Then after the 'b', mark another notch for 'a', two positions along. This should be in the seventh notch position. The next letter, 'c', will take us into the next cell. 'c' has the number value four, so including the last empty notch position in the first cell, count up to four. This should lead you to notch position three in cell number two.

shift

Listen close, because understanding what shift does seems to be the hardest part for most people. The shift function has the value 1 in every list. This means that if you see a notch marked in the first position of a message, or directly after another notch, it is a shift! Shift allows us to write a lot of different characters without having really long character tables. The alphabet is cut into two sections in Oriscript, between 'm' and 'n'. For example, without the shift function, to write the character 'z', we would have to use 26 spaces up (shift and the rest of A-Z), which is over 3 cells! So the shift function allows us to a lot in a smaller space. So when you are counting through the alphabet, or the number list to place your next notch, don't forget to count over the shift first, even if you're not using it in that particular instance.

The last two letters of 'abacus', 'u' and 's', require the shift function. So right after the 'c', mark a notch, and then count up to the letter 'u'(which has number value 8), which takes you into the next cell. 's' has the number value 6, and will also take you into another cell. Finally compare your results with the diagram below to see if you got it completly right. Count through the notch positions on the diagram if you have trouble.

Other things

• Each list starts with a shift key, don’t forget it’s there! It is used to switch to alternate symbols and letters and tags. It only stays on for one notch. Unless you have indicated a switch in the case, alphabet is lower case!
• Notches are horizontal and vertical. This means that you can write a new indicator (which are always diagonal) and also write notches in the same cell without confusing them. Each cell can contain one indicator and 8 notches.
• Just as you must watch your handwriting when writing T so it doesn't look like 1, and S so it doesn't look like 8, you have to carefully consider the position of your notches, especially when writing Oriscript without the help of cells like on paper.
• It is important to insert new indicators in empty cells, 'the next cell along' from your last notch, or you could accidentally change the meaning of the notches in the current cell!
• You may notice that one of the side-effects of Oriscript's spacious nature is that it is not an efficient method for long-winded messages. This is good to keep in mind when you are deciding what to write, and the surface to write on.
• Another thing worth considering is spaces between words. Admittedly using the punctuation indicator to insert a space and then switch back to the alphabet indicator is a great chore, using at least two cells in the process. I personally don't bother with spaces ever at all. If you feel strongly about spacing, you could maybe just write an alphabet indicator at beginning of each new word.
• what would the Oriscript message say if all eight notches were marked in a cell that had the alphabet indicator? (nnnn)
• what does the black image at the bottom of the screen say?
• As you become proficient in Oriscript, you will be able to ommit the cells, instead just accurately placing notches. This saves on objects that you need to place to write the message, and looks much less obvious. You can alternately use objects such as books and plates as 'symbolic cells' to give the reader an impression of the scale of your message.

Practice time!

I would like you to try to write 'hello' using the 'English / European' character table below to help you find the right notch positions. You can fold it or write on paper. When you have finished, compare it to the diagram below to see if it is the same. After you have worked that out, try writing your email, and then 'abcde12345'.

You can view the solutions by typing them into the encoder.

So that's it!

That covers everything you need to know to get started. I hope you feel confident enough to go and use Oriscript in all your own clandestine pursuits. If you want to share any cool or interesting Oriscript messages, send me a picture and I'll put it on this site. If you have any problems with the tutorial, or suggestions, please email me at chris@system-art.io . If you would like to translate this site or the character tables, make videos tutorials or images for the project, please email me.

Character tables

Use these tables as a reference to read and write Oriscript.

English / European / Romaji / Cangjie

ελληνικά

русский / український / Беларускія

Thanks to Slava Inozemcev for translating!

العربية

עברית

Using paper, or "Origamiscript" & Dynamic cell shapes

As mentioned before, I originally made Oriscript as a way of writing by folding paper. So here are some tips related specifically to that.

1. Don't try to take pictures of it. I didn't share any pictures of folded oriscript as it doesn't show up well at all in a static image.
2. The thicker the paper, the more secure the message. Napkins and 100gsm are only good for messages that don't need to last for more than 5-10 minutes. I personally prefer 160gsm.
3. Use pointy implements to mark your message if its to fiddly to fold!
4. Though I've nothing worth sharing at this point, I really like the idea of a neatly folded self-contained origami note which is also an oriscript message. I do realise however that paper folded to create cells is also very similar to this, and seems much simpler.
5. I think the idea of chaotically sequenced cells would look very cool. Perhaps a starting point for this could be scrunching up paper and using the unstructured creases somehow as cells. Also on a mosaic-like surface, one could use the individual facets of the surface to symbolise cells.

Comparison with symbol-heavy writing systems

• Usage by blind / visually impaired people. As oriscript in it's paper form and object form has a three dimensional impression, it could be potentially read and written by a blind person if they have adequate spacial awareness with their surroundings and hands. I would love to hear from some people who want to try this with me! This could be a step in the right direction for people becoming independent of any writing grids, tools or moon/brailler devices in some situations. I have already begun designing a new simplified writing system, having learnt from the process of creating oriscript, based purely on folding and reading paper by touch for this purpose. Think I'm gonna call it touchscript or something!
• Aesthetically minimal. You have to be looking for it. It is visually less intrusive and requires mental effort to read, beyond that of a foreign alphabet, as you actually have to calculate the meaning of Oriscript in a more involved way, via counting and then knowledge of the underlying alphabet. When they are written out in black ink, they almost look like QR codes for humans :) The only character that occasionaly and vaguely looks like it's real self is the '=' sign, as it is two value-1 notches placed together.
• Mid-text readability. With most alphabets, you can jump into the middle of a page sentence or word and instantly grasp what the content and context is. Oriscript is not this quick. Sometimes when reading Oriscript, especially long messages, it can be akward to keep track of which notch you are on (this is not so much of a problem with writing). Generally you can just jump back to a marker, and count it to see what the letter is. However if you really struggle with keeping track of the position of reading, you can add an alphabet indicator at the beginning of every word or sentence to serve as a checkpoint, to allow people to read without fear of losing their position and having to start counting from the very first cell again.
• You can theoretically write any language with this system. Whilst 'Language A' can be written phonetically with 'Alphabet B', a lot of information about the correct diction can be lost in the process. Whereas with Oriscript, a character table can be made for any alphabet to represent is accurately. I will add more over time based on interest.
• This is a level-2 writing system. It requires knowledge of the underlying alphabets, languages and the character tables in order to use.
• This is a constructed script. This means it is not a way of writing that naturally evolved, but was intentionally created. It also worth noting that this is not a conlang, as it is not a language, but a writing system for writing any pre-existing language.
• Oriscript in the virtual world. Normally for electronic devices, fonts can be created for alphabets with little fuss, except for a few computational elements, like the displaying of characters from right to left, or the combination of base-symbols into compound symbols. The situation with oriscript is slightly more complex. As there are no 'symbols' per se, Each character value is calculated and displayed dynamically, and may never look the same way twice. Oriscript has the potential to be a 'bridge writing system', a system that can be read and written by both computers and humans. I'm currently working on a plain-text to oriscript app, and also an app to read oriscript with a camera.
• Orientation dilemma. If you write a single tag within one cell on the floor, ceiling, or a window it is hard to tell how to read the message, as you can approach the message from multiple perspectives, thus changing the meaning of the notch. On walls and computer screens, the readers' orientation and approach is predictable and thus there is no issue.
• Spelling mistakes. Oriscript is pretty tricky to correct if you make a positioning mistake with a notch. If you correct the position of a notch mid-text, you inevitably change the value of the following notch (unless the next notch is after an indicator change). So pushing a notch forwards or backwards has a ripple effect, and you have to change the subsequent notches by the same value.
• This is an open project. Please take it and do what you will with it. If you find flaws and ineffiencies, or missing symbols please message me, and I will regularly publish updates to the system.

What is the point?

For me, the initial point was just to find a way to communicate through folding paper. Then a while after I wanted to create a way of communicating by placing commonplace objects on any surface, though I shortly realised that I had already in fact unintentionally created such a system through Oriscript.

It's made out of love of methods of expression like QR, morse code, GIFs and origami. Beauty often comes from finiteness. The constraints of origami, no cutting or attaching, and the fact that it is so fragile exemplify this notion for me really well. There's something really cool about information mediums that have well defined technical limitations, but are still capable of forming a vast amount of unique variations.

I felt compelled to share the writing system just to add the academic zeitgeist of language and design. For end users, linguists and origami enthusiasts, I hope Oriscript is at the very least a bit of fun, and that it provokes thought about design and communication. Maybe somebody will even find it useful!

Real-world usage

• leaving directions for people to follow, on dusty windows, discarded receipts etc. (using left/right tags!)
• letting people know that the document you are handing to them is false
• remembering something when you really cant find anything else to take notes with
• cheating in exams
• being painfully cryptic

Me

My name is Christopher Shelley. I am a 23 y/o guy from England currently living in Berlin. Oriscript was dreamt up whilst I was making origami one day in the summer of 2012. I think about technology, design, and languages a lot. www.system-art.io