# Visual Theory of Mind Enables the Invention of Proto-Writing

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.01568 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.01568/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 5 of its 43 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 3 Feb 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Learning to Draw: Emergent Communication through Sketching](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.02067/) (2021)
- [Emergent Graphical Conventions in a Visual Communication Game](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.14210/) (2021)
- [Pragmatic inference and visual abstraction enable contextual flexibility during visual communication](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.04448/) (2019)
- [Acting as Inverse Inverse Planning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16913/) (2023)
- [Finding structure in logographic writing with library learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.06906/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Learning to Communicate Across Modalities: Perceptual Heterogeneity in Multi-Agent Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.22041/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Symbolic writing systems are graphical semiotic codes that are ubiquitous in modern society but are otherwise absent in the animal kingdom. Anthropological evidence suggests that the earliest forms of some writing systems originally consisted of iconic pictographs, which signify their referent via visual resemblance. While previous studies have examined the emergence and, separately, the evolution of pictographic systems through a computational lens, most employ non-naturalistic methodologies that make it difficult to draw clear analogies to human and animal cognition. We develop a multi-agent reinforcement learning testbed for emergent communication called a Signification Game, and formulate a model of inferential communication that enables agents to leverage visual theory of mind to communicate actions using pictographs. Our model, which is situated within a broader formalism for animal communication, sheds light on the cognitive and cultural processes underlying the emergence of proto-writing.