Living with ZK-an approach towards communication with analogue messages

Abstract

It is well known that we communicate more with non-verbal means than verbal ones. It is also true that, when we communicate using paper and pencil, we use not only words and text but also use marks, symbols, and other non-verbal information such as arrangement and color. The paper proposes an approach to electronic communication which allows verbal and non-verbal (or analogue) messages. ZK (Zeichenblock) allows us to exchange analogue messages in a network-transparent fashion. Its potential importance is demonstrated with applications such as an analogue questionnaire and concept representation. These analogue data, represented as ZK-scripts, are effectively distributed by a "word-of-mouth" mechanism.