What does it mean to communicate with visual messages and to convey ideas with the help of images? Is the visual sign capable of substituting the subject when he or she is not present? Can it be relied upon in communication? Can it happen that a gap between the subject’s visual image and identity becomes an insurmountable barrier on the way to understanding? This paper attempts to discover visuality as a weighty addition to the spoken word, to reconsider its role (...) in communication so that it is treated not as a deceptive simulacrum but a representation of the subject in dialogical space, an embodiment of an eternal pure impulse, an aspiration to unfold oneself in front of the other. (shrink)

Recent restrictions of movement during the pandemic have forced people worldwide, even neo-luddites, to turn to communicating online. The virtualization of social processes that we are witnessing today, suggests constant rethinking of the role of the Internet for humanity so that we could optimize conditions of our existence that seem to be irreversibly transformed by technology, and integrate every individual with a unique set of features in the life of society. The author deals with the notions of cyberinclusion, virtual ghetto, (...) isolation and alienation to come to the conclusion that virtual communication allows one to form communities based not on segregation criteria of socio-demographics, but on unifying grounds of shared interest. Cyber inclusion already exists, along with virtual ghettoization; for the former to prevail, people must be ready to communicate beyond borders, regardless of their socio-demographical characteristics, state of health, or immediate benefit. (shrink)

As far as visual semiotics is concerned, color is an element of the image representing a fact of reality. However, as the mechanisms by which colors are perceived vary widely between and even within species, to say nothing of machines, this may cause misunderstanding in communication. This interdisciplinary research aims at conveying a comprehensive picture of the mechanisms that operate behind color perception and interpretation, based on data of biosemiotics and robosemiotics, i.e. taking into account different perspectives on conveying meaning (...) between living systems, as well as machines. The paper also seeks to raise awareness of the differing conventions of the meaning of colors in human cultures. Findings from all these fields are combined and compared to make a plausible judgement about color as an instrument of deception; the authors analyze situations where interpretations of color can lead to deception either through error or as a consequence of deliberate action. (shrink)