Kutachi Project

The Kutachi Project works toward a visual vocabulary to convey ‘the sense of situations.’ A goal is to leverage deep intuitive, possibly extra-logical cognitive skills. Both a coherent theory and usable examples are intended. An example application is in human-guided data mining where Kutachi guides the extraction of a coherent causal narrative.

A small group will guide the project, possibly through the Kutachi Forum or via comment infrastructure here. The project is in part sponsored by Sirius-Beta Inc. Kutachi is a coined word, inspired by the Japanese concept of katachi. The International Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Symmetry - US hosts a related, more general initiative: the Form of Logic.

The Kutachi Project can be seen as an instance of the Form of Logic initiative, but based on certain initial assumptions. These are:

Visual, Form-Centric and Symmetry-Based

The project aims at next generation user interfaces, so we want to focus on visual grammar. Existing studies on the nature of form can be leveraged, and these include work in cognition and the arts. We ally with the group of mathematicians and scientists who believe that the world (or our perception of the world) is inherently geometric and that symmetry is a deep primitive.

Deep Intuitive Perception

The project assumes that effective designers and powerful artists use Kutachi every day. Most probably, cognitive anthropology can inform the work; artists were working in form with stone tools, weaving and knots long before humans or even language. Evolved ability to interpret faces and body movement may be relevant.

Causal Narrative

The project uses the knowledge that we structure and understand facts as narratives. In particular, we employ the notion of a story that is continuously re-interpreted based on new information. The Kutachi display, in some basic sense is a display of the form of the narrative. We exploit a specific quality in narrative: causal linkages and change; in this we are working in the same area as the Foundations of Information Science group, and others concerned with self organizing systems.

Dynamic Flow Paradigm

The project assumes that the form of dynamic narrative flow may best use visual paradigms and intuitions associated with fluid flows. This would be integrated with conventional displays, notations and visualizations.

Calligraphic Glyph View

While the main goal is a dynamic display of the ‘big picture,’ revealing some essential qualities, a second use for the insights is planned: an ‘alphabet’ of kutachi-inspired glyphs. These could empower a new notation not bound to a paper metaphor.

Formal Basis

The project works outside the normal bounds of logic, but we still require a formal (meaning mathematical) basis. The mathematics of abstraction is category theory so much of the intuitive dynamics of change will employ that theory. The extension of logic to this human application is a well-founded body of work in mathematical logic called situation theory. It forms a philosophical framework for the approach.

Functional, Reactive Prototype As Goal

Many of the contributors will not be logicians, mathematicians or programmers, but it is the intent of the project to prototype useful tools. Since Kutachi is outside the bounds of ordinary logic, we need an extraordinary set of programming techniques. We have this in higher order functional programming.

If this appeals to you, contact Ted Goranson (tedg(junk)@(junk)sirius-beta.com ) to participate.