Computer-based iconic communication

How can two people who have no common language communicate with each other? Invented languages have not been popular and machine translation is unlikely to be practical. Perhaps the use of drawings and animated gestures is more promising. Computer-based icons, with an operational as well as a representational definition, provide a more powerful medium than do printed icons. Insights from artificial intelligence combined with good graphic design could enhance the ability of people to communicate without a common language. Some initial research in this direction has led to a general purpose communication system based almost entirely on the use of icons, using natural language text only for proper names.