Shall we Create a “Starry-ears / Heart-ears” Emoji?

Emojis have long invaded our digital daily lives, becoming a kind of universal “visual language.” Among the most widely used are those that express emotions through the eyes and face (e.g., heart eyes, starry eyes, tears of joy, etc.), which largely dominate.

Yet listening, sound, hearing – experiences that are just as emotional as they are visual – play only a very limited role in the current emoji set. The “ear” emoji does exist: it symbolizes the act of listening or hearing. But it remains plain, simple, neutral. Unlike a face, it does not convey how a sound feels: the surprise of an unexpected noise, the pleasure of music, the wonder of a song, etc. This brings to mind experiences such as the Sharawadji effect, that feeling of unpredictable sonic beauty, hard to describe yet deeply striking.

Note: like all emojis, these concepts would be redrawn by each platform and vendor (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, WhatsApp, etc.), often with noticeably different styles. The visuals shown here are therefore only illustrative drawings meant to convey the idea and intent, not a single definitive final design.

And that is precisely what a “starry ears” or “heart ears” emoji could offer: a visual symbol that translates an auditory emotion. Imagine ears topped with sparkling stars, like when you listen to a track that gives you chills. Or little hearts, to show that a sound makes you vibrate. This new emoji could enrich the expressive palette, adding to the visual emotion of emojis the more sensory dimension of hearing, which is often ignored in text-based exchanges.

Such an addition would be interesting on several levels. First, symbolically: it would acknowledge that hearing can trigger emotions just as strong as sight. Next, on a communication level: in a world saturated with images and text, a small pictogram evoking sound could help convey nuance, atmosphere, and feelings – music, the noise of a crowd, wind, a laugh, and more. Finally, on an inclusive or creative level: it could also raise awareness of the sensory dimension of hearing, of how important sound is in our daily lives, a kind of “visual wink” at the auditory dimension.

However, such a proposal also raises challenges. Emojis are above all visual: how can sound, hearing, and auditory emotion be represented in a way that is universal and easy to understand? The interpretation of an emoji is far from straightforward – it varies across cultures, generations, and contexts. On top of that, emoji designers might be reluctant to multiply “sensory” symbols: what exactly does a “wonderstruck ear” mean? What is it for? But in the end, isn’t that precisely the role of emojis: to suggest, to evoke, to leave room for interpretation and imagination?

As users, we could suggest to platforms (emoji keyboards, social networks) that they add this kind of emoji. Writers, musicians, sound lovers, movie fans – all of them would gain a new tool for communicating auditory emotion. On a broader scale, it could spark a conversation about how visual language is evolving into a multisensory language, where sound matters just as much as image.