Strollerderby

Color: The Alphabet of Our Kids' Future?

Posted by Karen Murphy

kmail kromofons color alphabetI always used to see the letters of the alphabet as colors, an eccentricity I mostly kept to myself thinking it was just a little too weird for most people. Turns out I'm not alone: there's a new alphabet that's based solely on color, which, if it catches on and doesn't become a 21st century Esperanto, could influence the communication of our kids and eventually, their kids.

Sure, there's probably not much we adults can conceive to do with this other than say, "Cool! A rainbow that spells something! Now what?" but our kids don't think like we do, at least not yet. Right now, about all you can do is join the Kromofons (that's the name of the alphabet but don't let that spoil your experience) community and send one another Kmail, coded in color. Or you can paint the outside of your house and send a message to your entire neighborhood. But I'm sure your kids can think of things to do with it that don't involve spray paint or tattoos.


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Comments

 

attriel said:

wow.  i'd've been straight up screwed with this, being three kinds of color broken :o

it'd be like reading a cryptogram, but without "decoding" it !!!

May 31, 2007 10:53 AM
 

Wandergrrl said:

You probably already know this, but seeing colors for letters of the alphabet is a fairly well-documented form of synesthesia, or mixing of the senses that some people have. (Another usual form is seeing colors when you hear music.) Vladimir Nabokov, my favorite author, is one of the more famous folks who had this condition, and described it in his autobiography (of sorts), "Speak, Memory." The artist Jean Holabird also has painted a charming little book called "Vladimir Nabokov: Alphabet in Color," her interpretation of his condition, with letters in all their glorious colors. Anyhoo, I'd be so curious to experience that condition myself. Do you get any pleasure out of it, or is it just weird or disorienting, I wonder.

May 31, 2007 11:57 AM
 

Grammy said:

So cool.  I wonder if it will help children learn to read who are learning disabled.  That would be an awesome study to work on.

May 31, 2007 3:16 PM
 

Karen Murphy said:

Wandergrrl, yeah, I read something a few years back and was astounded there was a name for my weirdness!  The article talked about Nabokov, too.  I get so *much* input from varying sources at all times that I don't really find it disconcerting at all at this point.  You learn to filter all that out and then tune into it at will.  I can imagine that it's likely very distracting for folks who are unable to do that, though.  Yeeks!

May 31, 2007 11:12 PM
 

hanmee said:

Neat idea, but I would wonder about people who are colorblind.

June 1, 2007 9:41 AM
 

Lee Freedman, MD said:

Technically, the Alphabet is called KROMOFONS. The students call it KFONS, I just use KF.

I am the developer of Kromofons. I am colorblind, and use my eyes as the acid test, so the red-green variety should be covered. For the Yellow-Blue variety, which is extremely rare, too bad, but, we are adapting the software, so you will be able to adjust your personal reading experience to the colors that suit you. Like changing the font.

Syneasthesia is a lot more common that first reported. So far, nobody has reported any more problems adapting or shifting into the KF world, than others.

Dyslexia is proving to be quite interesting. Early indications suggest there is a need for some serious research, and that properties of KF, the medium, may be able to be adapted to the individual, in order to kind of - go around, the neuro-pathways currently used to read. Functional MRI studies are needed. Know anyone with a fMRI machine - who is free for the weekend ?

I trully believe that the anaimated uses of this medium will add to the future of human information and artistic expression.

Will your kids grow up reading in it. My daughter has sent me father's day cards in KF, for about 15 years now.

It is actually all over the place, if you look, I just thought it was time to tell people.

Thanks for listening,

lee@kfons.com

Since the article, over 500 people have signed up for KMAIL. The kat is out of the bag !

June 8, 2007 5:08 AM
 

Lion and Magic Boy » Blog Archive » a post completely lacking in segues said:

June 14, 2007 8:59 AM

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