To formulate and to speculate on a new mass medium.... something that doesn't exist but which could exist, does sound a bit audacious, nevertheless, there are very sound reasons for believing that not only is another mass medium not only possible but that because of its potential convivial, decentralistic nature, this new medium could be of enormous benefit to future generations.

A person who has speculated on this possible new medium with a great deal of insight is Gordon Thompson (Communication Studies of Bell Northern Research in Ottawa). I will quote from his Occasional Paper No. 10 of the Institute for Research on Public Policy published in 1979, "Memo From Mercury; Information Technology Is Different".

"A NEW MASS MEDIUM

The information market-place is an opportunity to develop a new mass medium, one that is even now trying to be born, but in a disconnected fashion. The key to releasing thefull socio-economic potential of the new information technology, with its communications facilities, computers, and intelligent terminals, and the like, lies in designing a suitable infrastructure wherein the technology encourages the content suppliers and users to interact in a synergistic way. Such an infrastructure could produce a new mass medium.

For a medium to become widespread enough to win the name mass medium, the potential users must have sufficient time available to use the medium. It is not appropriate to suggest that a new electronic medium might look to television viewing time as the likely source of the time users would spend on the new system. If it is desirable to contain the media toxicity of television, then this new medium should be deisgned to compete with television for viewers time. If it is to be a counterfoil to television, then it can be no mere extensionto television.

Although this new medium could use aspects of television technology, particularly in the beginning, it must be separate enough so as to not confuse the user. It is not television.

• Instead of being ephemeral, it will be easily recallable.
• Instead of being paced by the producer or some other pundit, it will be paced by the user.
• Instead of delivering material chosen for appeal to the widest audience, it will offer tailored material, specifically aimed at small-user populations.
• Instead of offering literal visuals, as a camera does, it will feature more schematic or symbolic visual forms. Not fuzzy and indistinct, but crisp and sharp. Coloured, yes, but limited in shading capacity perhaps. Rather like the Sunday comics, but with limited motion capabilities.
• Instead of encouraging supine viewing, this new medium will elicit alert interaction.

Early confusion with television, in order to defray costs, could jeopardize the whole medium.

Illich's concept of conviviality is important in any such new mass medium. The infinitely variable and literal visuals of television clearly show the effect of costly sets, professional actors, cameramen, and other expensive production necessities. The visuals that are compatible with the computer are likely to be far more convivial in that they can be produced with only a modicum of training, and further sophistication in their preparation is just not perceived due to the limitations of the medium. Just as the telephone, because of its simplistic audio system with all its distortion and other transmission errors, does not require professional talkers, as do radio and television, so this simpler graphical form will be both accessible and useable by ordinary folk."

I will also quote from an article written by him called "Visual Literacy And The Time Varying Icon" published in the Feb. 1983 issue of the IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATION:

"The decreasing cost and increasing capability of computer graphics offers the opportunity to consider a new dynamic, or time-varying, iconic form of written language. Conventional ideographic writing forms, being static, require a very large number of symbols and are hard to learn. The new technology addresses both of these problem areas. Western culture oriented iconic writing languages already exist, and one, based on American Signing, would really shine if adapted to a dynamic or time-varying presentation form using computer graphics. Some exciting, important but distant benefits could result from the adoption of such a language form."

"Charles Bliss was an engineer, and his symbols clearly show this influence. Many of the symbols look like they are to be made with ruler and compass, and most are very static. A more dynamic iconic language has been developed by David Orcutt of Perry Siding, Winlaw, B.C., Canada. Orcutt, a puppeteer, chose to build on American Signing, widely used by the deaf and frequently seen on our television screens. Many of Orcutt's icons diagramatically represent hands and other human features as they might be in action while communicating. This approach stimulates a sympathetic, pseudophysical response when the pictograms are read, analogous to subvocalization in conventional reading. Orcuttts language could be adapted to effectively use the dynamic potential of modern computer graphics systems.

Why a new iconic language, given the profound difficulties we encounter with Chinese iconic symbols? The Chinese symbols have evolved into forms that are no longer representative of their meaning; the original icon became an ideogram. As a result, these symbols require a lot of effort to learn. The symbols are designed to match a much older and less powerful technology, that of the brush and ink. Embedding this particular symbol set in a modern, dynamic, high- technology-dependent, time-varying environment would produce little, if any, advantage and would likely destroy that particular writing form for those cultures that have a long history of its use. If there is to be novelty, most likely it must come from the West."

To talk about this new medium it would be handy to have a name. Until a suitable generic name is agreed upon, I will simply refer to it as the New Medium.

The New Medium would be seen and read either on a television screen coupled with a video play unit (either tape or disc) or on the screen of a microcomputer (with the contents on either a floppy or a hard disc). Although a variety of techniques could undoubtedly be used to produce material for the New Medium, a primary means will probably be computer graphics combined with an interactive video disc........600 or so basic Worldsign symbols could be in the computer's memory and the video disc could be used for storing and retrieving the thousands of sounds and visual images which are recognized around the world. Worldsign would be the means of linguistically utilizing this vast extent of shared imagery. Because of very modest production requirements, the cost of producing material for the New Medium would be low in comparison with other related media.

The New Medium would be distinctive, being neither motion film, television or the printed page. It would definitely involve reading... however, the reading would be of concept symbols, not words. Some of the symbols would be pictographic, (that is, based on pictures so that one would see the simple outline of the sun or the moon or a house or a car), and other symbols would be kinegraphic (that is they would be based on and suggest the manual sign).

All Worldsign symbols, whether pictographic or kinegraphic, can be manually signed and each symbol is intended to evoke the kinesthetic feeling associated with that particular manual sign. Also, each symbol would have its own distinctive kinetic signature, a short animated sequence, which would be part of its identification.

These symbols, besides being in varying combinations with each other, would be combined with sound and visual imagery having worldwide recognition. The reader will be able to pace his or her own material and will be able to repeat any section if this is desired. In ways which will subsequently be described, the viewer/reader will be able to learn the basic symbols and how to sign and write them at the same time he or she will be enjoying actual content. You will not have to first laboriously learn the symbols. They will be learned simultaneously with actual ongoing view/reading. One can learn to read world sign without learning how to manually sign the symbols, but manual signing can contribute to a more appreciative understanding.

Of course spoken language could be incorporated into the New Medium. For Canadian productions I would suggest a combination of French and English (and maybe a bit of Cree). Whether French or English were being used, the same material would be equally understood by all viewer/readers. As a side benefit this would also be a way of acquiring knowledge of a secondary language. There would also be an economic advantage of such productions in the New Medium in that they could be used and understood anywhere around the world.

A variety of formats for the New Medium are possible. In the earlier learning stage much attention would have to be given to providing necessary specific information for each symbol whose meaning wasn't clearly apparent. For example: If the graphic symbol was FIRE, this could be superimposed over a "film clip" of fire... Or if the graphic symbol was RAIN, then a "film clip" of rain could fill the screen. Inserts of someone signing RAIN and FIRE could give additional information.

Linear sequential sentences in which all the symbols would be animated at the appropriate time would, with greater symbol knowledge, give way to nonlinear filmic symbol happenings. Symbols could appear from out of the background or disappear into the background.... they could fade in and fade out... change their shape, size movement and location. They could change the way in which they might cluster and interact with each other. And all the symbols, of course, would have time varying durations.

A potential infrastructure for the New Medium is, to a great extent, already in existence. This is an important consideration. An interesting and beneficial aspect would be that whereas television has very little positive interaction with the less ephemeral medium of the printed book, the New Medium would help create a market for Worldsign in a printed form.... thus involving another infrastructure.