C. Stephanidis and M. Antona (Eds.): UAHCI/HCII 2013, Part II, LNCS 8010, pp. 383–393, 2013. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 "Multicultural/Cross-Cultural Emotional Design:" The Usage of Pictographs to Design Emotional Interactive Environments Haytham Nawar 1 and Hala Gabr 2 1 Planetary Collegium, CAiiA Hub, School of Art and Media, University of Plymouth, UK 2 Hala Gabr, Faculty of Applied Sciences and Arts, German University in Cairo, Egypt {haythamnawar,hala.gabr}@gmail.com Abstract. With the advancement of technology and communication, globaliza- tion is realized progressively as geographical barriers break. The idea of visual communication systems started developing under the cross-culture interaction and communication umbrella. The development of such a visual language serves as a universal form of communication bridging linguistic and cultural gaps. The proposed visual communication system cannot be considered a lan- guage, but rather a supplement to languages to create better and faster under- standing. In this research, we ask two questions; 1. Would the existence of a universal visual language bridge cultural gaps? And 2. we study the effect of having a visual language on the emotional experience of the user, so we ask if the usage of pictographs as a universal language would make the experience of people a more emotional one? In this paper, we propose an augmented reality application that translates natural languages to pictographic symbols. Keywords: multiculturalism, cross-culture, universal language, visual commu- nication system, pictograph, emotional design, interactive environment. 1 Introduction With the advancement of technology and communication, we start hearing more fre- quently of the term globalization. The term is realized more and more everyday as the geographical barriers gradually break. And as those distance limitations vanish, a pool of cultures come together giving rise to an astounding multicultural community. At that point, we are faced with the challenge of communication barriers. This new reality consequently gave more room to scientists and researchers to think of further developments under the umbrella of cross-culture interaction and communication. Within those developments, we have recently witnessed the growth of the idea of visual communication systems “visual language”. Leibniz, a great mathematician, dreamt 300 years ago, that someday universal symbolism will be true; a simple system of pictorial symbols, readable without trans- lation. It will contain simple symbolic logic and semantics. “Charlis K. Bliss”