Das erste persönliche Gestikwörterbuch Gestunary

Dear supporters of Gestunary, Please take a minute to answer just 3 simple questions regarding your approach to Gestunary - please also answer even if you don't use the app . Here's the link to the survey . My lovely intern Anna and myself are in the middle of some research on how to improve the initial app. It is for a good cause - I'll tell you more about that pretty soon but I can already reveal that even more of you get to use Gestunary. Thank you for your input and for filling out the form, I appreciate it! Take care, Hanneke

Over 200 new images were added and several helpful features to make every Gestunary experience worthwhile! Gestunary is now a true global dictionary. It includes gestures from all over the world. The new countries' signs and habits have been attentively selected and recorded for your convenience. Want to see an example? Take a look at the beautiful attached image. In Italy when people talk about food - indeed an extremely important topic! - often this gesture is involved. "What about a plate of spaghetti?", it means, or: "Shall we eat now?". Can you imagine the fork rotating elegantly through this gorgeous longish thin pasta ? I do! Russia, France and Spain are among the new countries added to the Gestunary database. And there is a lot to learn from those entries. Can you find out what particular, similar looking gesture those three have in common? And attention please: we are dealing with different meanings, of course! Always wanted to know how to count on your fingers in Chinese. You'll find out how. And the best thing? Gestunary is free of charge. Currently for iOS only, available in the App Store . A huge thanks goes to Norman Posselt for his amazing photography. Developed by Matz Software .

Hi there How have you been? Gestunary has been well. And it is only getting better. Those of you iPhone-lovers will obtain an upgrade with a selection of gestures from five (!) more countries this summer. That's awesome, don't you think!? I'll let you know as soon as the upgrade is available. Actually, now is also the time to check the name of the app once more. I have noticed that people have difficulty understanding and writing Gestunary... What do you think about it? Is Gestunary good? Should it rather be Gestionary ? Or do you fancy a whole different name? On the Gestunary Facebook page, these were some of the suggestions until now: iGesture , Mano , Hands-on , and Hand-terpretation . What do you think? Give me a hold of your suggestion(s) on [email protected] Every suggestion is highly appreciated! And yes, android is on my mind as well. As well as seeking for investments. It is an expensive journey ;-) If you know anyone who is an investor or anyone who could help to realise the next phase, then please let me know. Stay in touch for more. Best regards, Hanneke

Dear all, There it is! Here you are! Your Gestunary download (iOS only!) is waiting for you. Here you find your download:https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=1055302020&mt=8. You will find the prototype version that I worked on all last year. It includes gestures that are common in Japan, the Netherlands and Germany with lovely pictures and smart explanations. You 'll find out to better avoid certain gestures in a respective country. And you will discover relevant similar-looking gestures with slightly or completely different meanings. Also, you will find gestures in the category Business 101 and the category Basics, which are meant to help you with a quick start of Gestunary. We will closely monitor how this version is accepted. And then we will go into planning for the enhancement of Gestunary: more gestures, more regions, more options. And by the way, for those of you who are on android : you're next! Thanks again for your support. All the best, Hanneke PS. Please like Gestunary now on www.facebook.com/gestunary PPS. Download here: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=1055302020&mt=8

Dear supporters, 2015 has been great! And thanks to you I have just a few weeks ago been able to hold Gestunary in my own hands. The lovely sketches of Gestunary (as developed by Javi) have been put into realtime app pages (by Gunnar). And we are testing a few more things as we speak. This is soooo exciting. So the very next message I will write to you will be the announcement of the Gestunary launch. Are you ready for that? Well, I am. For now, I want to wish you all the very best for the new year to come. May all your wishes and hopes come true. Warm regards, Hanneke

Dear all, Yes! Gestunary is almost done - as for the first version. I am already thinking of the next steps and of the new gestures that should be added during the beginning of 2016 and this implies that my library of gestunary books kind of doubles every week now ;-) But... let me first inform you of some important stuff: your Rewards & Dankeschöns. Most of the the items you ordered are now ready or soon to be ready. I will use the coming weeks so that each and every one of you who receives a reward will have it as soon as possible. It will still be a bit of a puzzle to find out how to get some of those items to you guys, since you are widespread over 10 countries (which is great!). As for the first version of Gestunary, this will be in iOS only by the way. I am very sorry for android fans among you, but this was a financial decision most of all. Given the fact that I am already working on version 0.2, you will be included in this journey as soon as the beginning of 2016, too! I kindly request you to be patient a bit longer. Well, so far so good now. Did you know that the app testing is already on its way? I could still use some iPhone and/or iPad users to click through the screens as a first reality check. Expected testing time: beginning of December. Please let me know if you can join us. Have a good end-of-year party season and some lovely Advent weekends to begin with! Best, Hanneke

Dear all, Thank you again for your kind supports that made my crowdfunding campaign to a big success. Today, I want to inform you of the results and the next steps to take. As you know, the money was meant for the programming of Gestunary. So as soon as the campaign on Startnext was through, I assigned the project to a web developer of my choice. He has been setting up the infrastructure (such as databases) and has been coding the first few pages already. One of the next important milestones is the testing of Gestunary. We will need a few folks to go through the pages that we put together, to see if all works well and to see what needs to be amended. So please let me know if you have both the time (around 15 minutes should do) and mindset to do some testing, and you have an iPhone. Because that is when we could use your help. Apart from that, I have now registered Gestunary as a product to be placed in Apple's app store - ready for download as soon as the beginning of 2016 already! So far so good. Thank you very much again for your help in making this work! Best, Hanneke

Dear supporters and dear friends, That was one piece of a nervous week and what a race in the end! Time to shake off the shivers now because ... YOU MADE IT HAPPEN. Yesterday night - with still more than 24 hours open on the counter - you generous, kind, guiding, splendid, big-harted, lovely people cracked the figure with an almost deafening vigor. This is great! I will give this project all that is in my power and I am looking forward to presenting your app to you in the very near future. You are the best! Thank you, Hanneke

With only two more days to go, I courteously request that you activate your neighbours, uncles, grannies and the rabbits in your garden too, for the success of Gestunary. If you can, share a post on Facebook. This #crowdfundingcampaign only needs a few more euros to be successful. However if not the whole amount is successfully raised until Friday night, all money that was brought together by over 80 generous donors will flow back into their pockets and then Gestunary gets 0. Spend a few coins or bank notes for the good cause. For the programming of the first Gestunary, the first app dictionary for gestures.

Dear all, A huge THANK YOU ALL to you who have supported so far. That is fantastic! There is still some work to do however, since only those projects that are successful will actually receive the money in the end. As I realised over a year ago, that there was no such thing as a dictionary for gestures, I decided to develop one myself. Many of the things I have done and thought of in the meantime were connected to this idea. Pitching the idea to check whether it works At first, I pitched the idea several times, to see how people would react to it. And my audiences liked the idea. A lot! Then I started to find like-minded partners. Norman and Elisabetta were the first to join, fully committed to this crazy stuff. Some time later, Javier and Catharina followed. In May and June we saw the first raw materials: photographs, sketches, designs. I never thought that after studying Japanese... I would some day develop a piece of software! Thanks to kind and patient friends we are now waiting for the first version of Gestunary in real-time - what a miracle! Now, I am hoping and longing for this miracle to happen: please help me in making this app come true. Thank you, Dankeschön, hartstikke bedankt & mille grazie, Hanneke Tips for your support: Book a gestures workshop. An ideal warm-up for a long day boring meeting or perfectly suitable for your customers, employees or friends and neighbours. The stylish organic bag is a true collector's item! There are only a few more left… The next photo shooting is taking place any day soon now. Could you be the next hand model for this ambitious task? Screening included ;-) And more

Weather warning! Today's thermometer indicated 62°C for Gestunary. Weather forecast: Attention. It will get hotter in the next days - top temperatures expected by end of the week!

Dear fans, I got a few questions on the concept of crowdfunding, how it works and what to expect. What does crowdfunding mean? Until recently, financing a business or project involved asking a few people for large sums of money. Crowdfunding stands for raising finance ("to fund") by asking a large number of people ("crowd") each for a small amount of money. People invest simply because they believe in the cause. Usually a supporter receives a reward in exchange for a donation. Donors might also have a social or personal motivation for putting their money in and expect nothing back, except perhaps to feel good about helping the project. I have seen organisations, teams and individuals to successfully raise money to start a social business or a private initiative that otherwise probably would not have been realised. In the music scene, artists often crowdfund within their a fanbase e.g. to produce of a new CD. A very nice example is the campaign by my friend Sebastian Block, who successfully funded his album "Der Mond ist Schuld" (https://www.startnext.com/der-mond-ist-schuld). What happens if the full amount is not met? If at the end of the campaign the estimated amount of money is not reached, all supporters will get their money back. The project starter (me in this case) will not get a cent but there are also no costs involved. If the campaign is to be successful and the money raised is enough to meet the estimated amount, I will receive this shortly after the campaign. However, some of the money will be deducted beforehand by Startnext as a settlement for money transfer costs as a result of individual donations. Please allow me to thank all of you who have supported already and to invite those who haven't done so to support my project now. Your help is needed still. It is wonderful to be backed up by so many kind cooperative and generous friends! Best, Hanneke

Dear all, "Ich drück' dir die Daumen". I remember being very confused the first time I saw someone perform this gesture (see image). The two fists, pointed slightly towards me... My first thought: "Did I say something insulting? Was my body language violent?" I didn't get the body language and either did the uttered words help any to understand its meaning. After a few weeks and seeing people repeatedly showing this gesture I figured that it is no sign of force, and I learnt that it is a way to show empathy and wish someone good luck. The thumbs of both hands are squeezed into the inside of the hand palms and so represent a very literal translation of the saying. In northern America the expression is usually performed with the index finger and middle finger that - by twisting them - perform a small cross, and actually this sign originates from the Holy Cross. And by the way, the Dutch sign for "good luck" looks even different. The gesture that I use back home I guess will easily be misunderstood as "I am bored" by a person originating from Germany. Actually, we are now constantly "am Daumendrücken", to plea for good luck and success for this very crowdfunding campaign. Will you join us and squeeze your thumbs for good luck, too? Best Hanneke

Dear fans, I am looking into the next step already, which is the placing of the order to have Gestunary programmed as soon as possible after the realisation of this crowdfunding. This is what I can use your input for. Can you do me a favor and please let me know what your current operating system is? You will only have to answer two multiple choice questions in this poll: http://de.surveymonkey.com/r/8VDFLZF (Link opens in a new window). Thanks a lot for your help! Hanneke

What happened to me today!? This video is the convincing proof that Gestunary, the first app-dictionary for gestures and hand signs is much needed in cross-cultural conversations and meetings. The makers of this films proove that there is lots to misunderstand when gesticulating...

Dear supporters, The counter for the realisation of Gestunary-programming sits already at 704 euro. This is already a huge amount and I thank all of you who have already donated very much. It is highly appreciated! Maybe you didn't get a chance yet to look at www.startnext.com/gestunary/en. No problem, you still have two weeks to do so and spend a few euros to help me realise this dream of mine. By the way, if you anonymously want to give a small donation, you DON'T need to register and your email address will NOT appear on the website. And if you have any doubt that your money will be spend wisely, please just give me a call. I am happy to explain what my plans are. Did you expect other, better rewards? Please let me know what you were thinking of and I will certainly consider to add them. Hoping I can count on your donations and your help. Best wishes Hanneke PS Did you see me gesticulating 7-0-4 euros!?

Dear fans & supporters, What kind of gestures do you use? I saw the gesture in the image last year in Cuba and it's meaning seemed to me something close to " together ", each index finger resembling one person. Or so I reasoned. Have you seen this gesture before? Do you know what it means? Please drop a note to where and how you would use it... Thank you so much for all your kind donations and for your highly appreciated help in making this crowdfunding work so far. Extremely cool to see how the first few bills and coins have come together already. I'll keep you posted! Best regards, Hanneke