[00:00.00] Searching fora Uniform Sign Language

[00:05.88]A picture can be worth far than a thousand words,

[00:12.12]at least when it comes to guiding travelers.

[00:17.58]That was the reason behind an experimental project

[00:24.32]by the U.S.Department of Transportation.

[00:29.39]The Department wanted to test the efficiency

[00:35.42]of thirty-four graphic symbols in air terminals

[00:41.48]and other public places in several American cities

[00:47.54]-as an aid to Americans and their guests from abroad.

[00:53.60]William R.Meyers,who directs the project,

[00:58.75]requires that the signs be clear,uniform and easy to comprehend.

[01:06.90]"This means,above all,signs that world overcome

[01:13.06]the language barrier,"Meyers explains.

[01:18.00]"Far too many foreign visitors

[01:23.17]find themselves in strange and confusing surroundings,

[01:29.81]not knowing the language of the country

[01:34.17]and uncertain as to where to go obtain help."

[01:40.62]In the past,there has been no uniform sign system,

[01:47.57]and a number of organizations worldwide

[01:53.63]have posted widely varying signs for guiding the public.

[02:00.97]For example,the sign for a telephone

[02:06.01]at the Merico Olympic Games was a telephone dial;

[02:11.87]at the Tokyo Olympics,a telephone and dial;

[02:17.61]in most other sign systems,a telephone headest.

[02:23.46]After considering all the various telephone symbols

[02:29.84]as to their instant communication value,

[02:34.67]experts selected a stylized telephone handest.

[02:41.65]Pictures for the signs were created

[02:46.37]by the American Institute of Graphic Arts in New York City.

[02:53.32]The creators fo the graphic symbols

[02:58.08]wanted to find a unifoum sign language

[03:03.43]that people everywhere would comprehend easily.

[03:09.18]For example,they decided that the back view

[03:14.93]of an envelope indicates a mail facility

[03:20.28]more clearly than front or "side"view.

[03:25.84]To communicate a currency exchange,

[03:31.28]the creators creators developed a uniform symbol

[03:36.82]that shows a rectangle with figures for

[03:42.46]a dollar,pound,france,and yen depicted on it.

[03:48.70]Also,a martini with an olive became the uniform sign for a bar,

[03:55.96]not because the martini was judged the most popular cocktail

[04:02.91]but because the shape of the glass is distinctive,

[04:08.06]and other cocktail glasser can easily be confused with a water glass.

[04:15.61]Several years ago,representatives from all over Europe

[04:22.37]met in Geneva to agree upon a uniform code of highway markings.

[04:30.81]When these were posted,it became possible

[04:36.24]for motorists from all over the world

[04:40.89]to drive with greater safety even though they didn't know the language

[04:47.95]of the country that they were visiting.

[04:53.12]In the future,the uniform highway signs

[04:58.87]from Europe may appear along major roads

[05:04.40]in many other countries as well.

[05:09.34]Once the signs are posted throughout the world,

[05:14.91]a knife and fork will mean a restaurant,

[05:19.95]a suitcase will indicate baggage,and a car under a key,a car rental.

[05:28.10]And if anyone has questions about the whole proposition,

[05:34.65]he can simply go the information desk under the sign

[05:41.11]that has a big question mark within a circle.