A method for writing numbers using their prime factors instead of digits. Visual design inspired by the Inca record-keeping technology quipu and the alien language in the 2016 movie Arrival.

Playground

Input number:

How it works

• There are three knots, representing multiplication by 2, 3, 5.
• An incomplete ring represents the product of all the knots and rings connected to it. With no knots it represents 1; with a single knot it represent 2, 3 or 5. With multiple knots and connected rings, it represents a composite number.
• Prime numbers larger than 5 are represented as a composite number + 1, by closing the ring of the corresponding composite number. Complete rings are only valid when the product of all their connected knots and rings is one less than a prime number.
• Repeated factors can be compressed using exponention, which is indicated by a ring that encloses another. The outer ring is the exponent, which is encoded the same way as regular numbers.
• The starting point of the first ring is indicated with a small teardrop shape, which indicates the direction along the string to read this number. The teardrop by itself represents 0.

Future

A fourth symbol for -1 is planned. In addition to negative numbers, this will unlock fractions (-1 as exponent), n^th roots (fractional exponents), complex numbers (-1 raised to fractional exponents) and their products.