# Ontology of Card Sleights

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a detailed, formal ontology for card sleights, enabling precise classification and transcription of card magic moves through a machine-readable movement writing system.

## Contribution

It presents a comprehensive, axiomatized ontology of card sleights in Description Logic, extending existing ontologies and facilitating step-by-step transcription and database search of card tricks.

## Key findings

- Ontology contains 440 categories of motion.
- Successfully formalized in OWL DL for computational use.
- Enables step-by-step transcription of card sleights.

## Abstract

We present a machine-readable movement writing for sleight-of-hand moves with cards -- a "Labanotation of card magic." This scheme of movement writing contains 440 categories of motion, and appears to taxonomize all card sleights that have appeared in over 1500 publications. The movement writing is axiomatized in $\mathcal{SROIQ}$(D) Description Logic, and collected formally as an Ontology of Card Sleights, a computational ontology that extends the Basic Formal Ontology and the Information Artifact Ontology. The Ontology of Card Sleights is implemented in OWL DL, a Description Logic fragment of the Web Ontology Language. While ontologies have historically been used to classify at a less granular level, the algorithmic nature of card tricks allows us to transcribe a performer's actions step by step. We conclude by discussing design criteria we have used to ensure the ontology can be accessed and modified with a simple click-and-drag interface. This may allow database searches and performance transcriptions by users with card magic knowledge, but no ontology background.