Senseinscriptions

Senseinscriptions are inscriptions—texts, symbols, patterns, or tactile marks—that encode sensory or perceptual information in addition to conventional linguistic meaning. They may appear on physical artifacts or as digital records and are intended to cue how a thing was sensed or could be experienced by a reader or observer.

In practice, sense inscriptions combine linguistic signs with nonlinguistic cues. They can be physical textures that suggest a surface feel, relief and color coding, or digital layers that annotate an image with sensory descriptors such as warmth, roughness, or imagined odor, to enhance accessibility or immersion.

The concept sits at the crossroads of semiotics, phenomenology, and museology. It raises questions about how meaning is produced when perception is part of the communicative payload and how inscriptions mediate the relationship among object, observer, and environment.

Critics note that interpretation of sense inscriptions can be highly subjective, and there are challenges in standardization, interoperability, and ensuring accessibility for diverse users. There is also concern about overinterpretation or privileging sensory data over linguistic clarity.

Related ideas include multimodal representation, sensory data, and inscriptions as used in museum contexts, decorative arts, and digital humanities projects.