Visualizing Characters as Images: Understanding Chinese through Internet Usage

Abstract

In this paper, images generated from pinyin and actual written simplified characters are comprehensively analyzed through Internet and electronic device usage. The study is based on current usage of most frequently used Chinese simplified characters in smart phones, mobile devices and in WWW. Generally a Chinese character carries significant meaning, and evolved over the years through representation of objects in nature, this study focuses on emphasizing understanding a text in the form of limited images. The main focus is to generate optimized image of a sentence or sequence of sentences in the form of images, so that anyone could visualize the meanings without being fluent in Chinese language. In addition, we try to establish, how the individual simplified Chinese characters, carry the meaning in the context of Internet usage, and how they can carry higher meanings through images to readers of non-Chinese. As Chinese characters are usually entered through pinyin, a system of phonetic notation, we have considered pinyin along with radicals and simplified characters.