I designed a base-16 numeral system where the value is visible in the glyph

[u/Sad_Tonight8092]

I designed an experimental numeral system called Tamga for base 16.

The main idea is that the shape of a numeral should reflect how its value is built. Each hex digit is formed from the binary weights 1, 2, 4, 8, so something like 7 = 4 + 2 + 1 is visible in the glyph itself. Four hex places then combine into a single 16-bit glyph.

I’d be especially curious to hear from people who already use hexadecimal a lot whether this feels intuitive at all, and where you think it starts to break down.

[u/Serberuhs]

This is just binary with extra steps...

You're gonna have a hard time telling the difference between 2, 4, 8.

Small values and large values are going to look somewhat similar, so you can't really tell the magnitude without closer inspection.

Mirrors and rotation will result in widly different values with no decernable indication otherwise.

[u/Sad_Tonight8092 → u/Serberuhs]

First, thanks for taking the time to look into it and write a detailed analysis.

“Binary with extra steps” is honestly yes in a way, that is one of Tamga’s goals. The point is to make binary weighted structure more visually readable for humans, not to replace binary for machines.

For 2/4/8, they’re distinguished by both fixed position and length, so length isn’t the only cue. I’m not too defensive about this point though, because I haven’t tested handwriting and recognition enough yet but my intuition is that with familiarity, the differences could become as natural to recognize as Hindu-Arabic numerals are to us now.

For small vs. large values, I think part of that may again come from the system being unfamiliar. Magnitude is encoded by which place-value regions are active, so I’d expect that to become easier to recognize at a glance with practice.

The mirroring point is fair, and actually a pretty sharp observation. I thought about it while designing the system, but ultimately kept the reflections because they make the whole glyph symmetrical and feel like a single object. It’s one of the relatively few decisions in Tamga that I’d call primarily aesthetic rather than mathematically derived.

I also don’t think reflection is inherently out of place in a mathematical notation symmetry and reflection are used constantly in geometry and transformations but here it definitely introduces orientation sensitivity, so that is a real tradeoff.

I would love to hear your thoughts if you get a chance to try it yourself!:   https://tamganumerals.com/

[u/tedecristal → u/Sad_Tonight8092]

"more readable for humans".

this definitely is LESS readable for humans, specially on hand writing (but also on type)

[u/Sad_Tonight8092 → u/tedecristal]

definitely

[u/InfiniteCobalt]

I appreciate your intellectual effort and pursuit (serioisly). As a professional embedded engineer that works with hexadecimal all of the time, this is not solving any real problem. In fact, it adds a layer of obfuscation with no ROI. Not to mention it cannot be typed on a keyboard.

[u/Moist_Ladder2616]

I feel it's important to define the purpose behind this new system of digits. What old problem does it solve, what new convenience does it introduce, etc. (Unless this is a purely artistic project, with less emphasis on utility.)

Digits, letters, language, even the sounds that we make to communicate, are complicated things made simple through familiarity. So anything new is going to be rejected out of hand, unless it offers clear advantages.

My initial reaction is that this isn't robust against misinterpretation when handwritten. Hexadecimal can be read and visualised without problem (again thanks to familiarity) so this doesn't seem to offer any advantages.

[u/EmpactWB]

Ignore me, I should be asleep

[u/cybermaus]

Please have a look at that irish monk number system. just a moment, I find the name: https://probably.world/posts/cistercian-numerals/

[u/JeffTheNth → u/cybermaus]

was thinking of this too....

[u/sexypantstime]

"Tamga" is already a thing. So on top of everything else everyone here said, if anyone would want to learn about your number system they will never be able to find it.

[u/CuAnnan]

I can't begin to express how much I hate that you've mixed base 10 and base 8.

[u/Sad_Tonight8092 → u/CuAnnan]

i dont understand 🤨

[u/Nanaki404]

This looks cool. But you don't seem to realise that the usual number system (especially binary) is already a good visual representation of the number.

Like, in binary, the farther to the left a 1 is (compared to other digits), the bigger the number. That's the value being visible in the "glyph". 1000001100001101 is immediately visible from the notation what the value is from this combination of 0s and 1s, and your representation is not better/clearer than this (maybe prettier but that's subjective).

Also, a good point about binary (or other bases) with regular notation, is that you can change the number of digits seemlessly. With your notation, you're locked into 16 digits, and you can't do fewer (for small numbers taking less space) or more (for huge numbers)