Finding Approximate Ambigrams and Making them Exact

Abstract

Rotational ambigrams are arrangements of letters that can also be read upside down. Existing approaches to automatically create such ambigrams employ highly artificially-looking and difficult-to-read typefaces. In contrast to that, the ambigram generator introduced here is based on a vector graphics editor that ensures perfect symmetry. A major component is an algorithm to smoothly fuse different vector shapes. As not all words lend themselves to be converted into legible ambigrams, an optional preparatory step is included. In this step, a dictionary is searched for words that are shaped almost symmetrically so that meaningful input is provided to the editing stage.