A discovery determines the date of the appearance of the "first emoji in the world"

Emojis are an essential part of our daily messages via smartphone, and although they are new, a new discovery shows that their history may date back to 1988.

Matt Sifton, a game developer and blogger, made this discovery after delving into the history of emojis, and said that the Japanese PA-8500 device included a number of symbols amounting to 102.

However, they look completely different from the emojis we use today.

To uncover its history, Sifton tested several old Japanese devices that contained drawing programs.

He explained: "These types of devices existed before the Internet, so there is not much about them on websites, and they cannot be simulated, so the only way to know what they do is to get first-hand experience by reading the manual."

He initially expected the first emojis to be those created at SoftBank in 1997.

But Sifton was amazed when he discovered emojis on the Sharp PI-4000, which was released in 1994.

Then he discovered that the NEC PI-ET1, released in 1990, included really impressive emojis (as he described it).

When he tested the PA-8500, launched in 1988, Sefton was astonished to discover that it contained emojis similar to those of the PI-4000.

He wrote : “If we think about the PA line, the PA-8500 was released in 1988, and the PA-7000 (emoji-free) in 1987. So the emoji line was probably created around this time!”

While Sifton suggests 1988 should be set as the start date for emoji, he admits that may not necessarily be on everyone's radar.

He concluded, "The history of emojis is not as clear as you thought. You can decide for yourself what you consider to be the first emoji. It depends on our personal definition, so there is no right or wrong answer."