pictorial communication systems seek to describe fundamental mathematical or physical concepts via simplified diagrams sent as bitmaps. these messages presume that the recipient has similar visual capabilities and can understand basic mathematics and geometry. a common critique of these systems is that they presume a shared understanding of special shapes, which may not be the case with a species with substantially different vision, and therefore a different way of interpreting visual information. for instance, an arrow representing the movement of some object could be interpreted as a weapon firing.