Have you ever been in a conversation, business meeting, social setting, country, restaurant, or situation where communication is lacking due to a language barrier? Wouldn't it be great if there really was a universal language? Because let's be honest, trying to find the bathroom can be harder than you think in a foreign country… We have the app for you! Download Pigeon on your device and the world will be communicating with each other in no time…
     Our proposal is to create a pidgin language that combines all languages known to man. This pidgin can potentially facilitate communication beyond what we are currently capable of. The utilization of modern technology will make it possible to spread this universal language and span cultural and social divides.
     Before a truly functional App can be built, however, there is a lot of technical work to be done. The first step in our proposed project is to gather many volunteers around the globe. Working simultaneously, these members will work on gathering samples of each unique language or speech patterns in the area that they are assigned to. They will use a recording device and then send the information to a special database where it can be kept safely until the next stage of the project.
     The second step in the World Pigeon Project is to assemble an elite team of linguists to study the syntax and speech rules of each of these languages. This process will help to understand the similarities among languages and even uncover previously unknown patterns in language. These patterns and rules will be adapted and combined to create the structure for the worldwide pidgin.
     Once this language is successfully constructed, we can take the final step by building an App for devices that will consistently translate any language into the universal pidgin language. The user will speak into their device in a native language, which will then be translated into the universal language.
     Thinking many years down the road, this App and pidgin language could potentially be a viable means of communication. It may be able to break down the boundaries that we currently face in communication. Thoughts, feelings, and emotions can be understood on the same level, limiting misinterpretation.
     Seed magazine asks the question, "Who are we?" (2) This project uses the science of linguistics in an artistic form to make sense of the human experience. In the article, professor Noam Chomsky argues, "we needed a 'third culture,' which would close the 'communications gap' between scientists and artists." (5) The World Pigeon Project could very well be this "third culture" that would allow us to bridge the gap between science and art.
     Below is an example of what a worldwide pidgin language might sound like. This example doesn’t take into account true linguistic attributes and rules of speech, but is meant as an example to show how many languages and cultures would be meshed together by this pidgin.

     We currently have a very limited prototype of the App that we hope to build in the future. The application for android was developed using a tool called App Inventor; it is currently being run by MIT and allows for moderate-level development of applications. This app would be further developed by expanding to all platforms such as Windows, Linux, and Apple products. Coupled with connecting it to a full database of all the languages of the world makes it a powerful language tool. Once done the app could translate to and from the universal language.
     Over time the need for the application would be phased out but the database of languages will be useful indefinitely for historians and linguists. The database itself would be constructed by linguists from every culture. Each of the linguist's main goal is to convert all the unique words, phrases, and ideas from their language of expertise to the universal language.
Below you can see the logo and icon designs for our App.



Below is a short video on how this App might function in a real-life situation.