How minimal is too minimal? Brainstorming syntax for VisionScript

Yesterday evening I was thinking about syntax for VisionScript, the programming language on which I am working. My goal is to make the syntax as intuitive as possible while retaining a clear structure. As an aside, VisionScript got to the front-page of Hacker News (HN). I was humbled, excited; indeed, elated. Thank you for being so amazing, HN community! If you haven't seen it, check out the demo for the language.

I want to take a moment to talk language syntax.

At the moment, a VisionScript command looks like this:

Classify["a person making a fist", "a person holding up a flat hand", "two fingers" ]

Names with a capital letter at the beginning are language methods; square brackets denote the location of parameters. But could this be made simpler?

I was writing a rock paper scissors game yesterday evening and started to think about new syntax for the game (and an unrelated < 10 LOC script to change an LED light colour when a person enters a room, but that's for another post!). Here is the rock paper scissors game in valid VisionScript:

gamemaster = Random["rock", "paper", "scissors"]

UseCamera["background"]
    Say["You have 3 seconds to get into position!"]

    Wait[3]

    Classify["a person making a fist", "a person holding up a flat hand", "two fingers"]

    If["a person making a fist"]
        player = "rock"
    End
    If["a person holding up a flat hand"]
        player = "paper"
    End
    If["two fingers"]
        player = "scissors"
    End
    Break[]
EndCamera

Say["You chose"]
Say[player]

Say["The computer chose"]
Say[gamemaster]

The code above starts two threads: a camera thread and a program thread. The program thread controls the rock paper scissors logic, then stops once a photo has been taken and classified. Then, the user's choice and computer's choice are displayed on the console.

Here is the idea I had for new syntax:

gamemaster = Random "rock", "paper", "scissors" 

UseCamera "background" 
    Say "You have 3 seconds to get into position!" 

    Wait 3

    Classify "a person making a fist" "a person holding up a flat hand" "two fingers" 

    If "a person making a fist"
        player = "rock"
    End

    If "a person holding up a flat hand"
        player = "paper"
    End

    If "two fingers"
        player = "scissors"
    End

    Break  
EndCamera

Say "You chose" player

Say "The computer chose" gamemaster

I removed all of the square brackets and commas. The resulting syntax is clean. There is a clear structure, but one has fewer characters to type. The language reads more naturally, too. The "what, not how" approach to the primative functions (i.e. Classify[] and UseCamera[]) that are available shine through.

I could go even further and use IsItA, which maps internally to Classify. Read out the following aloud:

    Say "You have 3 seconds to get into position!" 

    IsItA "a person making a fist" "a person holding up a flat hand" "two fingers" 

    If "a person making a fist"
        player = "rock"
    End

Or further:

gamemaster = Random "rock", "paper", "scissors" 

UseCamera "background" 
    Say "You have 3 seconds to get into position!" 

    Wait 3

    Classify "a person making a fist" "a person holding up a flat hand" "two fingers" 

    If "a person making a fist" player = "rock"
    If "a person holding up a flat hand" player = "paper"
    If "two fingers" player = "scissors"

    Break  
EndCamera

Say "You chose" player

Say "The computer chose" gamemaster

I could remove the need for capital letters in functions.

Implementing the new syntax outlined above will take some time, but before I do I need to make a decision on what version of syntax would be more approachable and intuitive. I would love input!