Jul 3, 2026 · cs.LGJ/K move · Enter open · S save
Sam Mao
New York University | Interactive Media Arts
Standard machine learning training presents data as discrete endpoint pairs, omitting the structure of the space between them. This paper introduces Transition Information Density (TID) -- the information content recoverable from structured intermediate states between categorically distinct training endpoints -- and Positional Identity, the defined location of an intermediate state on the A-to-B continuum. Both constructs are grounded in three empirical contexts: grapheme-color synesthesia, the Synesthesia Grid (a boundary-contour morphing algorithm instantiating TID in visual morphological space), and a four-condition training experiment across four representational mediums. Probes trained on structured interpolation at defined Positional Identities (C3) exhibit substantially lower intrinsic dimensionality than volume-matched controls (C2) in Phonetic/Linguistic (C3: 3.33 vs. C2: 10.81) and Semantic Description (C3: 4.59 vs. C2: 8.67) mediums. Visual and cross-modal mediums do not show this effect, establishing a modality boundary condition. A fixed-N=50 comparison confirms that Positional Identity structure, not sample count, drives the effect. Resolution N scales monotonically with representational richness. Pooled TwoNN analysis reveals globally collapsed representations in visual space (0.075) and globally consistent representations in phonetic space (0.977). The paper contributes a formal definition of TID and Positional Identity, a nine-metric shape characterization framework, and a four-condition experimental design isolating trajectory structure, data volume, and Positional Identity as distinct factors.