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Quickies — MIT's Intelligent Sticky Notes

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the smarter-than-your-average-sticky dept.

Iddo Genuth writes to mention that MIT researchers have made their first pass at bringing the common yellow post-it note into the digital age. Using a combination of artificial intelligence, RFID, and ink recognition, the team hopes to make the digital version as ubiquitous as possible. "The Quickie application not only allows users to browse their notes, but also lets users search for specific information or keywords. Using a freely available commonsense knowledge engine and computational AI techniques, the software processes the written text and determines the relevant context of the notes, categorizing them appropriately. "The system uses its understanding of the user's intentions, content, and the context of the notes to provide the user with reminders, alerts, messages, and just-in-time information" - said the inventors. Additionally, each Quickie carries a unique RFID tag, so that it can be easily located around the house or office. Therefore, users can be sure never to lose a bookmarked book or any other object marked with a Quickie."

22 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. We have quickies in my office by nuzak · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apparently they're holding them over at the Human Resources department. I asked the receptionist for a Quickie and she had me sent there.

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    Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
    1. Re:We have quickies in my office by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I had the same experience and in the end it cost me $50,000 in legal fees. This technology is way too expensive to ever take off.

  2. Re:as ubiquitous as possible by roscivs · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ubiquitous means omnipresent.
    Ummm... "the team hopes to make the digital version as omnipresent as possible." Parses perfectly well to me. What's your damage, Heather?
    --
    ~ roscivs
  3. Sometimes simplicity... by Hangtime · · Score: 4, Insightful

    is best. I have to write my sticky on a touch-sensitive pad which will then need to be transferred to the PC, undergo handwriting recognition and AI to try to ascertain what the heck I meant which will then try to organize that information.

    Or, I can continue using my sticky notes and organizing them on my cube wall (a much larger surface and higher resolution then my 19 inch monitor), freely moving them from one place to another, changing meaning through organization without having to worry about manipulating them on a computer.

    Forgive me but I believe this is a tool in search of a problem that does not exist.

    1. Re:Sometimes simplicity... by moderatorrater · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They really are missing the point. The point of a stickie note is to put information where there was none previously. I don't need the bottom edge of my monitor for anything, but it's really handy for reminding me about the tasks I need to do before I leave. Putting it on the monitor (physically or through this software) takes up space that I do need for something else, meaning I'd only look at them when I thought I'd need the reminder...which means that I wouldn't need it.

    2. Re:Sometimes simplicity... by evanbd · · Score: 5, Informative

      Please stop repeating that myth. Snopes says you're wrong.

      For those too lazy to read the link: Fisher spent their own money on the development, and the results were far better than pencils. Pencil leads break off and create an electrical and fire hazard, not to mention making dust. These are real problems in free fall that aren't present on the ground. Sorry, but your intuition of what works well on the ground will not translate in any meaningful way to free fall.

    3. Re:Sometimes simplicity... by Hojima · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm pretty sure its development was for the sake of progress rather than the replacement of an already loved product. Remember this is MIT that developed it, not some commercial entity. I'm pretty sure that the main reason for its conception was another baby step towards creating a system that assists humans with their means of communication, which may seem trivial, but it is a crucial step towards modernizing the way humans interact with machines. FTA:"The scientists say Quickies can be used to seamlessly blend the old-fashioned and modernized ways of communication". I'm sure the next step is to have the system analyze the code that the programmer is developing, and based on the comments and general coding habits, lay out the skeleton of the program (or perform some other vital function, like warn the coder of a possible logic error with his objective).

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    4. Re:Sometimes simplicity... by glitch23 · · Score: 2, Funny

      To make them true to life, the digital ones have a setting which is customizable that dictates how long the notes can stay stuck the screen before their 'glue' wears off. A spin-off game is also planned to allow you to practice your basketball skills by throwing the old Quickies into the Recycle Bin.

      --
      this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
    5. Re:Sometimes simplicity... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Unfortunately I don't have the time to check out every single "fact" people tell me, particularly the common ones (like this) that get reiterated all the time. I apologise for spreading FUD and I stand corrected (Although my main point remains the same), however I AM only human. Perhaps you should write the facts a Quickie so that it can do the research for you :D
    6. Re:Sometimes simplicity... by Jartan · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Did you even RTFA?

      1) You write your note on the same kind of pad you'd buy in your local office supplies store (it just happens to sit on top of some sort of pressure scanner)
      2) The cheap ass pad of post-it notes has cheap ass RFID's on them so it's a pretty simple step to make the computer know exactly where they are on your wall whenever you want it to.

      Where in that whole process did you have to do something you wouldn't of normally done? Do you need to move around your post-it note pad constantly or something?

      Of course for you the same thing could be achieved by pointing an appropriate camera at your wall but not everyone uses post-it notes the same.

      The RFID thing is obviously brilliant if you've ever lost an important post-it note. The only downfall is the possible security/privacy concerns of digitizing such information(passwords on post it notes for instance).

    7. Re:Sometimes simplicity... by pipingguy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "wouldn't of"

      Aaaaarrrghhh! One doesn't even have to be a junior high school graduate to be annoyed by this misuse of the language. Or is being ignorant about language "cool" now, similar to the way that ignorance of math is "cool" for those that can't program computers?

  4. Passwords by Anti_Climax · · Score: 3, Funny

    So instead of keeping your passwords under the keyboard they'll be on the screen?

    --
    Even people that believe in pre-destiny look both ways before crossing the street.
  5. Didn't Jens Alfke already solve this problem? by notsoclever · · Score: 2, Informative

    Mac OS Stickies

    --
    There are 10 kinds of people: ones who understand ternary, ones who don't, and ones who think this joke is about binary
  6. Clippy Quickie by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 2, Funny

    >> The system uses its understanding of the user's intentions, content, and the context of the notes to provide the user with reminders, alerts, messages, and just-in-time information

    "It looks like you're trying to: Post a Quickie."

    "Would you like a Quickie?"

  7. I was going to post "That's so stupid"... by bill_kress · · Score: 4, Interesting

    but everyone seems to have beaten me to it.

    So how about instead of bitching I try to come up with some constructive criticism. How about the opposite, a little sticky-note printer that will spit out whatever is highlighted on your current screen and apply a little glue to the back side on the way out, ready for immediate deployment.

    The form-factor should be such that it can fit into a hard-drive slot on your PC--and it can slide open like a CDROM for refilling consumables.

    It should work both vertically and horizontally.

    There, run with it and make your $millions.

  8. Is this really a problem? by sdkmvx · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I may be old-fashioned, but I see no need to use more than the assortment of paper I have on my desk for notes.

    Paper costs ~$40 for 20 pounds; and I can pick it up, put it in my pocket, and take it to the grocery store. And if I drop it, its not damaged. An equivalent computerized system costs ~$300 (PDA) and does not respond well to being dropped. I would also have to remember to check my to do list. A note on a desk/keyboard/table/whatever is much more likely to be seen.

    --
    "I refuse to believe that everybody refuses to believe the truth." -- Lisa Simpson
  9. Re:as ubiquitous as possible by veganboyjosh · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Get lost?"

  10. MIT by El+Cabri · · Score: 4, Informative

    People at MIT are notoriously good at creating buzz around the concepts, demos, protypes and inventions that they come up with, especially at the Media Lab. Unfortunately, like everything that happens in academia, the signal to noise ratio is what it is and most of it has no future, sometimes for blatant reasons that one doesn't need to be a very sharp V.C. to figure out. Unfortunately that creates the impression that they are really a bunch of clowns that come up with useless stuff on a regular basis.

  11. My wife likes the idea - A LOT ! by Dave21212 · · Score: 3, Funny


    My birthday is coming up soon, so I asked her for a Quickie.

    You should have seen her response !

    --
    "Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."--Benjamin Franklin
  12. re: by Rage+Maxis · · Score: 2, Funny

    I remember this when it was called the Newton

    --
    --- ask me about nihilism, I will have nothing to tell you.
  13. Wait a minute... by clichescreenname · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... since when do MIT students get quickies?

    Or any sex, for that matter?

  14. Re:as ubiquitous as possible by 75th+Trombone · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I wish you would stop regularly alternating between decently insightful posts and off-topic tediopedantic flamebait so I could decide whether to leave you on my Friends list or not. :P

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    The United States of America: We do what we must because we can.