MS's "Lifeblogging" Camera Enters Mass Production

holy_calamity writes "Remember Microsoft's camera to be slung around the necks of people with Alzheimer's to help them recall where they'd been? A version of this device will now be mass-produced by a UK firm, Vicon, which obtained a license from Microsoft to manufacture the camera. It is worn around the neck and takes an image every thirty seconds, or in response to its light sensor, accelerometer, or body-heat sensor indicating that something of interest may be happening. Until now only a few hundred had been made for research, which showed they can genuinely help people with memory problems. The new version will be marketed to Alzheimer's researchers this winter, and to consumers for 'lifelogging' beginning in 2010."

Comments

The big problem

[Anonymous Coward]

Getting people with memory problems to remember they have them and how to use them.

Re:The big problem

[ColdWetDog]

Yeah, I've got an issue with this. Most people with memory loss issues have problems with short term memory. Not so much "what is this thing around my neck" but more of issue of ignoring it and never downloading or looking at it. I find it hard to believe someone will go through several hours of stills to find their keys.

It could be of use for family or health care providers to see what the person actually does all day, but again, somehow that seems like an awfully small niche item.

I suspect this will be dead from poor signal to noise issues in a year. No wireless. Lame.

Re:The big problem

[Frans Faase]

In the early stages of Alzheimer, people can remember a lot. I notice this with my 52 year old wife, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in December 2006. Sometimes she can lose her keys twice within half an hour. But when I ask her to buy something, when she goes shopping, she usually succeeds in doing this. At the end of the day, she often does not know what she all did during the day. On other times she keeps repeating telling me some story about what happend during the day. I could imagine that something like "Lifeblogging" could help her to remember more of her day.

Re:The big problem

[frenchbedroom]

If it's a shop where she has been several times before, your wife should have no problem finding her way there and back, because this involves procedural memory, not short-term memory. Procedural memory is very deeply set in the brain, very hard to erase, and requires no conscious thinking. It's where your daily route to work is stored, where the lyrics to your favorite song are stored. People with Alzheimer's can remember and sing their favorite songs perfectly, as soon as you start playing the music. I recommend you read Oliver Sacks' book "Musicophilia", you will learn how music can ease your wife's disease.

Re:The big problem

[Frans Faase]

To be honest, lately, I have been thinking about putting a cinder-block around my neck and jump in the canal. The slogan of the Dutch Alzheimer's society is: "He suffers from Alzheimer's Disease, she has it." Alzheimer's Disease is often the hardest for the people around, who have to see a loved slowly crumble down and return into a baby. I already have lost her as a partner, her emotional development is like a 10 year old child. I often find myself talking with my 15 year daughter about her like normal parents would talk about their children. It is no surprise that my daughter is only staying with us in the weekends and staying elsewhere the rest of the time. I have a feeling that my life has come to an end. Next month I am going to be 48, but it often feels like I am 20 years older.

Re:The big problem

[Frans Faase]

This is very true. Most of her activities depend on procedural memory. It seems she has already forgotten all the things she does not do on a weekly basis. She is not able to write her name. Lately, I discovered that she cannot make the most simply 9 piece jigsaw puzzles any more. Even with three pieces left, she had a hard time. But if I play some old Chinese songs (she is from China), she immediately starts to sing a long. There are still many things she remembers. I am surprised that she still can remember her shoppings. Sometimes, I give her a list, but lately she is getting trouble with reading it seems. I have to read the list to her a few times. It seems she can remember up to about three items. She goes to do some shopping almost every day. She likes to bike around the city (we live in The Netherlands).

Re:The big problem

[FesterDaFelcher]

I apologize for that jackass' response above (even though this is /., so it is to be expected). You are being sincere and sharing useful info, and he is just a troll. Anyway, understand that there are good times to come, and if you try to make the best of what time she has left, it will mean loads to your daughter in her future. I suspect you already know this, but remeber that your daughter is still watching how you treat this situation and it molds her as well. Just know that you have positive energy coming your way from me. Alzheimer's sucks.

Re:The big problem

[PopeRatzo]

I watched a loved one slowly fade away via Alzheimer's. I feel for you, friend, and wish you some peace.

Take care of yourself and daughter, and don't be afraid to ask people for help. You'd be surprised what resources are available and how many people will step up and help out. And the help is for you more than for your wife. You still have lots of life to live, and a daughter to live it for.

I often wondered (and hoped) if my loved one was increasingly immersed in some gauzy state of inattention, not so aware (or concerned) about the distress her condition was causing the rest of us.

Re:The big problem

[jeff419]

Alzheimer's is just the distraction so they can get the bugs out before they make them mandatory on everyone.

Re:The big problem

[couchslug]

"I have a feeling that my life has come to an end. Next month I am going to be 48, but it often feels like I am 20 years older."

My parents both had Alzheimers.

At some point, you should consider institutionalizing your wife. Both my wife and myself are Air Force vets, capable people, and that didn't mean shit because Alz patients are exhausting to care for even when they are mostly docile.

She will require care 24 hours a day, and there is no way one or even two people (my wife and I cared for my dying father) can do that. We were able, after he could not live alone, place him in a very good nursing home. We later moved him to a small house on our property, and were able to get in-home caregivers and later, hospice caregivers so my father could die with us. That was in the last year or so of his life. My mother preferred a nursing home near her older extended family.

Alzheimers is brutal (if I'm diagnosed with it, I will organize my affairs and prepare to suicide. May anyone who has moral/religious problems with this come down with Alzheimers!), there is nothing to be done about it, there is no hope, and that must be faced and dealt with straight off.

Look into assisted home care options with a view to moving her into permanent custodial care. Take your time looking at caregivers (good nursing homes literally "smell right" and the staff are genuinely concerned) and learn about your options.

Above all, find social outlets and deliberately prepare yourself for another life. You are middle-aged, you can't accomplish anything at all (this is the hardest part) by staying with your doomed partner, and you have a right to live. Take care, and make a future for yourself.

Re:The big problem

[Frans Faase]

My wife already once a week attends day-care at a nursing home specialized in all forms of dementia (including Korsakov syndrome and early-onset Alzheimer's). It seems to be quite a nice nursing home. It is one of the few nursing home that have stayed small. In our country we have seen a lot a merging, with the idea that this would reduce costs, but in fact only created new management layers and such. This nursing home is called Bruggerbosch and situated in Enschede, The Netherlands.

I know that taking care for a person with Alzheimer's Disease is very exhausting. I can also not imagine how I have to deal with this in combination with having a job. It is said that people with early-onset Alzheimer's Disease are earlier institutionalized. Here in the Netherlands, nursing home are for the greatest part subsidized by the government, but with the rising number of old people compared to the young, the government is trying to cut cost, meaning, delaying institurionalizing as much as possible.

Re:The big problem

[couchslug]

"but with the rising number of old people compared to the young, the government is trying to cut cost, meaning, delaying institurionalizing as much as possible."

It could be worse. If it weren't for my parents thorough planning and fair amount of money to supplement government care, they and I would have been fucked and not in a good way. Be glad you have that Evil Socialized Medical Care so feared by the right wing in the US.

I am grateful to hospice staff. I don't know how this is handled in Europe, but in the US they provide a wonderful service caring for the dying (as opposed to mindless dedication to preserve life and prolong suffering).

Re:The big problem

[Anonymous Coward]

"(if I'm diagnosed with it, I will organize my affairs and prepare to suicide."

What if you forget that you have it before you can kill yourself?

Re:The big problem

[sincewhen]

But it would be fun to put it on your dog or cat!

Re:The big problem

[jayme0227]

As an interesting and almost totally unrelated sidenote, you're saying that this product could help me keep track of my keys? Sweet.

Re:The big problem

[Maow]

Hi Frans,

I saw your post the other day and had to respond.

First of all, this bit:

The slogan of the Dutch Alzheimer's society is: "He suffers from Alzheimer's Disease, she has it."

That's quite witty and insightful. And sad.

I've tried to come up with something to say to extend my condolences / best wishes, but have nothing but cliches and poor attempts at humour.

Also don't have a deity to summon on your behalf.

So simply want to say, hang in there and my best wishes are with you.

rb

Why do they need a "license"?

[John Hasler]

The technology involved is bloody well obvious.

Re:Why do they need a "license"?

[Anpheus]

Maybe the company in question is licensing a pre-made design and schematics?

I think it's worth many lulz that you automatically assumed it was a patent license and thus a crime against humanity.

Re:Why do they need a "license"?

[John Hasler]

I don't recall using the word patent.

Re:Why do they need a "license"?

[Anonymous Coward]

Check your lifeblogging camera, it'll help you remember.

Re:Why do they need a "license"?

[jipn4]

Not only is it obvious, it has already existed for years: you can hang any camera with an interval function around your neck. People have done this to document their day, although it gets boring pretty fast (and has serious privacy implications).

Furthermore, there are more and more tiny video cameras you can attach to your helmet and clothes and that last for many hours.

Re:Why do they need a "license"?

[westlake]

The technology involved is bloody well obvious.

"Cognitive Prosthetics" is bleeding-edge.

The tech has to be proven in clinical trials. Digital technology eyed in fight against Alzheimer's

Clinical trials cost money.

On November 27, Microsoft announced that it was giving $550 000 in funding to six teams of academic researchers in the United Kingdom and North America. One of the researchers, Fergus Gracey, a clinical psychologist from the Oliver Zangwill Centre for Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, in Ely, U.K., is planning to use SenseCam to help the rehabilitation of patients with acquired brain injury. "Many of our clients have a shorter fuse or find it difficult to manage emotional arousal," says Gracey. "We hope to use the reviewing of SenseCam images of the trigger situation, along with heart-rate recordings of the individual during that situation, to help prompt recall and to help the person tune in physiologically to what was going on." A Camera to Help Dementia Patients

memento

[Anonymous Coward]

This story should be tagged "memento".

Re:memento

[arkane1234]

God, the older I get and after my automotive accident, the more it scares me.
It's a must-have.

Tag

[Mr_2_718281828459045]

DO NOT WANT.

Re:Tag

[Anonymous Coward]

would make for some interesting porn

Re:Tag

[Anonymous Coward]

Given the age of the average Alzheimer's patient I have to strongly disagree.

lifeblogging in the bedroom

[alen]

i can only imagine

Re:lifeblogging in the bedroom

[John3]

You don't need to imagine, Paris Hilton has been lifeblogging from the bedroom for years.

Re:lifeblogging in the bedroom

[TerribleNews]

Or the gym locker room... yikes.

Dupes!

[Tablizer]

I expect nothing less than 7 four-or-higher-modded slashdot dupe jokes out of this topic. Now, get to work!

Re:Dupes!

[sakdoctor]

Where did lifeblogging come from?
TFA only refers to lifelogging.

kdawson sucks.

lifeblog.com

[John Hasler]

The next thing in "social networking": link your "SenseCam" to your 'pod and upload an image to lifeblog.com (already registered) every time you move your head. It will surely soon eclipse FaceSpace.

Re:lifeblog.com

[shervinemami]

Actually it already exists: http://www.justin.tv/ (its called Lifecasting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifecasting_(video_stream))

Predictable Outcome

[Tablizer]

08:12 - "Hmmm, I trolled slashdot. Oh well."
09:23 - "Hmmm, I trolled slashdot. Oh well."
11:05 - "Hmmm, I trolled slashdot. Oh well."
13:11 - "Hmmm, I trolled slashdot. Oh well."
15:43 - "Hmmm, I trolled slashdot. Oh well." ...

Re:Predictable Outcome

[Anonymous Coward]

08:12 - "Hmmm, I trolled slashdot. Oh well."
09:23 - "Hmmm, I trolled slashdot. Oh well."
11:05 - "Hmmm, I trolled slashdot. Oh well."
13:11 - "Hmmm, I trolled slashdot. Oh well."
15:43 - "Hmmm, I trolled slashdot. Oh well." ...

Wow, you don't post very often. You must have a life.

Re:Predictable Outcome

[mysidia]

This is a result of it only taking a picture every 30 seconds. over 2/3 of the posts started some time after a picture, and, since they only took 15 seconds to write, were finished + off the screen, before the next picture.

A better and more mundane solution

[Teckla]

Technology can and does change our lives in profound and wonderful ways, but...

I think a pad of paper and a pen might be a better solution, or even a PDA (remember when they were called PDAs?) with a calendar and note taking application.

8:10 AM - Took heart medication.

9:45 AM - Went to market to pick up bread for dinner.

10:30 AM - Took blood pressure medication.

10:40 AM - Maintenance stopped by and fixed the leaky faucet in the bathroom. If it starts leaking again, call 555-1212 and ask for Ben and let him know it's still leaking.

People with memory problems need a convenient and reliable memory enhancer. I doubt recording your life and having to watch it back over and over to see what you've done is convenient or reliable. Glancing at your pad of paper or calendar plus note taking application is easy, fast, convenient, and reliable.

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[Anonymous Coward]

if you can remember how to use it.

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[Neoncow]

Why do something manually when you can do it automatically?

I agree that the approach isn't useful for something like pill schedules. I think the intent is for general events. Something more along the lines of "Went to the park with grandchildren in the afternoon", "Saw old friend today", "Celebrated 87th birthday at favourite restaurant", and "Witnessed beautiful sunset last night".

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[Anonymous Coward]

This reminds me of a movie by Chris Nolan called Memento. Notes can get confusing.

But, I agree - here we are talking about normal life, not solving a murder mystery just with your one-sentence notes.

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[wizardforce]

My grandmother has severe memory problems. We have tried a system very similar to what you describe and frankly, once her memory got bad enough to need such a system, she couldn't remember to note the things she should remember. We did most of the note taking for her and she would forget to use them. Honestly, the camera may help with memory problems just due to the fact that it does it automatically but really it may just come down to her forgetting why she has it and leave it somewhere. What people with memory problems like hers really need is care and attention from their family and friends. It is as simple as that. They're going through life with pieces missing and they often know it and that is really hard for them emotionally and no camera is going to fix that.

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[cjerrells]

I haven't read the papers first-hand but did see the research presented and IIRC the point is that this doesn't just help the person to remember the facts of what they did (as your suggested approach would). Instead, it allowed them to retain the *actual memories* of what had happened. Having visual and audio records of the events of the day, and reviewing them periodically over the next couple of weeks actually helped these people retain their memories of the events. I'm pretty sure they said this extended to details not captured by the SenseCam, demonstrating that they weren't just remembering the material they'd reviewed.

So quite different from 'Did I remember to take my pill? Oh yes, here, I wrote it down...'

When I first heard about the SenseCam project it was the lifeblogging pitch and I thought it was cool but gimmicky. The research results they had for improving patients' memories really impressed me though.

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[ShooterNeo]

Actually what they need is a drug that inhibits the formation of the plaques and Tau tangles that kill their entire brain a piece at a time. (the entire brain is dying in alzheimer's, but the memory systems are obviously the most fragile and the first to fail completely)

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[fractalspace]

6:24 AM - Took a dump
7:45 AM - Woke up

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[wizardforce]

What do you do about all the people for which the damage is already done? preventing the disorder is of course the thing to do if you can but remember that once the damage is done, it is very difficult to repair.

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[mysidia]

Or an iPhone and an app to do that. Writing with pen and paper is just so inconvenient.

Or you need a recorder with a button you push, to keep record of the past 90 seconds, while you said what you need to remember, or while you captured video of someone saying something particularly important.

Rather than recording every moment, you need a way to tell the device what to record.

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[ShooterNeo]

Nothing. That drug I mentioned is in clinical trials today, and it seems to completely halt the disease progressing. It'll be 50-100 years or more before we can effectively replace missing neurons....long before that, people will no longer get Alzheimers because of drugs that block it.

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[ciaohound]

Pics or it didn't happen.

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[Threni]

This thing might well last longer than the year or so you can expect an iPhone to last before the battery fails.

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[palegray.net]

Out drinking last night, eh?

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[Anonymous Coward]

I find that polaroids and tattoos are a much more reliable way to remember that some asshole is a liar.

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[westlake]

I think a pad of paper and a pen might be a better solution, or even a PDA with a calendar and note taking application.

8:10 AM - Took heart medication.
10:30 AM - Took blood pressure medication.
10:40 AM - Maintenance stopped by and fixed the leaky faucet

The camera offers visual confirmation.

It also records events that weren't logged.

The Alzheimer's patient is usually elderly. The PDA or daily planner may never have been part of their lives. It may have become difficult for them to read or write for other reasons. The geek who arrives at the bi-focal age will - quite literally - begin to look at his gadgets in new ways.

Re:A better and more mundane solution

[mikechant]

Can't remember where this quote comes from:
"I open my bowels regularly every day at 7am. Unfortunately I don't wake up until 7.30..."

If I wore this, it would be sad

[CrazyJim1]

Nothing but monitor shots.

Re:If I wore this, it would be sad

[Hurricane78]

But it would make a nice porn gallery! (Pray that there are no reflections on the screen! ^^)

Re:If I wore this, it would be sad

[Anonymous Coward]

Pray that there are no reflections on the screen

Now Joe Public consumer only likes shiny screens, you're out of luck there! Come back anti-glare, all is forgiven!

Re:If I wore this, it would be sad

[Anonymous Coward]

Now Joe Pubic consumer only likes shiny screens, you're out of luck there! Come back anti-glare, all is forgiven!

There, I fixed that for you.

Thank goodness it's Microsoft

[93 Escort Wagon]

Can you imagine what'd happen if Google got hold of this? We'd have high-resolution "street view" images of every bingo parlor on earth! Okay, in Japan it might be pachinko houses...

With Microsoft at the helm, we can sit back free of worry - they've earned our trust with their consistent, careful handling of our personal information! Grandma is safe, cradled gently in Ballmer's strong arms...

Re:Thank goodness it's Microsoft

[SilverHatHacker]

Grandma is safe, cradled gently in Ballmer's strong arms...

Thank you for that lovely mental picture...

The devil is in the details

[linumax]

How about the device's operating system? Its software component installed on your PC? Methods* used to determine change in environment? Change in mood? and many many other little details.

Obviously Vicon are not idiots and they saw a benefit in licensing the tech rather than building everything from ground up.

*Possible patents

Re:The devil is in the details

[Peet42]

It may have been cheaper to license an existing Micro$oft design than it would have been to get their own drivers certified for Vista/Windoze 7.

What my semi-random shots would look like

[Rick17JJ]

Here are the first few snapshots of my daily activities.

1) Using Draino in my stopped up kitchen sink
2) Me standing naked in front of the mirror, contemplating my 250 lbs weight
3) Using a plunger on an overflowing stopped up toilet
4) Checking the tire pressure in my tires
5) Posting on Slashdot
6) Standing in line at the grocery store in a slow moving line
7) Bending down looking for mosquito larvae in a puddle
8) Staring at the mess in my closet and wondering when I will ever get around to cleaning it out
9) Me scratching my balls
10) Me shaving with a older style double-edged safety razor

Thanks to Microsoft, I may eventually have a device which will allow me to jog my memory of what those moments were like. Perhaps, I should save the pictures of those moments forever, so that future generations will know what life was like during this time period.

Despite heat and motion sensors and such to try to detect significant moments, the results might end up, not being much better that is on my list.

Re:What my semi-random shots would look like

[Blakey Rat]

6) Standing in line at the grocery store in a slow moving line
7) Bending down looking for mosquito larvae in a puddle

The line was so long you decided to just eat mosquitos? WTF, man.

Re:What my semi-random shots would look like

[Rick17JJ]

Perhaps, I encountered a puddle in the parking lot while pushing my grocery cart out to my truck. However, your point is valid that the items in my list are not in a, well thought out, logical order.

After finding mosquito larvae, I might be tempted to grab a couple of granules of VectoBac which contains a mosquito specific, mosquito larvae killing bacillus. However, I probably would not actually do that on someone else's property. On our own property, I have noticed that the bacillus kills mosquito larva, but does not kill tadpoles. From what I have, read it does not hurt animals or other wildlife either. Another alternative would have been to use Agnique MMF to put a molecular monofilm on the surface of the puddle which suffocates mosquitoes.

On our neighbors property, they added mosquito fish to a marshy pond, which once was a major mosquito breeding area.

That is probably more than you wanted to know about my interest in mosquito larvae. I am not an expert, I am just someone who has many impossible to eliminate puddles, caused by summer thunder storms, on our many acres of land. A more interesting shot would have been of one of those times which I have seen garter snakes catching tadpoles from the puddles.

...and what's this thing doing around my neck?

[weinrich]

That's the next question outta my mouth after trying to figure out why the #!*@$ I walked into the kitchen in the first place.

A better use

[DeadboltX]

I'd like to have one to wear for when I go drinking, as I usually end up somewhere I don't remember being!

Re:A better use

[BJ_Covert_Action]

I don't know about you, but I am pretty sure I would rather *NOT* remember a good part of what happened before I woke up in that graveyard half naked...

Re:A better use

[aj50]

Sure you do. It happened. Everyone else saw it.

The best you can do is remember it and learn from it.

Re:A better use

[Yvan256]

Dude, where's my car?

Results of user trials

[noidentity]

"That's funny, I don't remember being underwater earlier."

"How odd, it shows I was under water all day yesterday, just blue on every picture."

like catcam!

[Sam36]

http://www.mr-lee-catcam.de/pe_cc_u.htm

Not Life"B"logging

[Chapter80]

Get the B out of there, in the headline. It's not life"B"logging!!!! You made up that word.

The article refers to lifelog, not lifeblog.

Let's not let another crappy made-up word enter our vocabulection!

Re:Not Life"B"logging

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a perfectly cromulent word.

Re:Not Life"B"logging

[sincewhen]

Lifeblog is a perfectly cromulent word!

Where did I put my keys?

[edwebdev]

This could be really useful if they added sound recording and a way to program the device to take a picture upon sensing a pre-determined stimulus. You could, for instance, record a couple samples of the sound keys make when you put them down somewhere and tell the device to take a snapshot whenever it detects a similar noise. Assuming accurate pattern-matching, something like this could really cut down on time lost searching for lost keys.

I'm sure there are tons of other movement/light/sound stimuli combinations that would also be useful to program in as markers for important events. The sound of a car engine starting, a door closing or opening - if this could be opened up to community development, the possibilities are staggering.

Re:Where did I put my keys?

[Anonymous Coward]

as much as people hate RFID, it might be a good way for a system like this to be able to interpret the surroundings. The video can then be synched with physical objects, such as your keys for faster recognition. Like if you put the keys down, and the video records that event, later on you could search for keys and it would pull up the last known recording of the keys through the RFID tagging of the video.

Re:Where did I put my keys?

[Anonymous Coward]

I put sound triggered as edwebdev describes in the Sensecam when I designed it for Microsoft, but not voice recording as I thought this was an invasion of privacy.
Loud noises triggered the images. Lyndsay Williams

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

I smell a government deal for MS!

[Hurricane78]

Wait for them to become mandatory! ^^

Re:I smell a government deal for MS!

[dossen]

It might not be a bad idea if something like this was mandatory for civil servants while on duty (maybe with higher framerate or even full video - sound would be good too) - then a digital record of what actually took place would exist - that might be useful to resolve some cases where the parties do not agree on what happened...

Re:I smell a government deal for MS!

[Lumpy]

Portable DVR's have been around for decades. I have a camera+video recorder that fits in my pocket and can run for 6 hours on battery and record 3 months worth of video and audio on a 16Gig SDHC card.

Why not just use what already exists and can be bought cheaply. Mine was $180.00 + the lipstick camera on a clip for $69.00 works awesome for my sports stuff and when it does not see movement it stops recording. works great to catch the ass that is stealing beer.

lame

[thetoadwarrior]

Not only will you look like a twat but the more you rely on technology to hold your hand, the worse your memory will get.

Re:lame

[John Hasler]

> Not only will you look like a twat...

Only until Apple comes out with their immensely cool version.

Re:lame

[Lumpy]

The Apple iTwat?

Little Brother for everyone!

[jjh37997]

Imagine if this catches on and everyone starts wearing one and uploading their "lives" online. If people freaked about Google Streetview invading their "privacy" that will be nothing compared to what will happen when this tsunami hits. If each photo or video stream is encoded with the date, time and GPS coordinates and you combine it with some good facial recognition software we can finally bring back the ancestral "village" where everyone knows what everyone else is doing, all the time, everywhere. Sunlight is the best disinfectant and these little devices can help shine it everywhere.

Re:Little Brother for everyone!

[mick88]

It's funny you mention Little Brother. Gordon Bell, who is cited in TFA, has a new book out called "Total Recall" in which he talks about the future state of having us all recording / logging everything we do. He says it's not big brother you need to look out for, it really is Little Brother. We will all be each other's own paparazzi, in essence.

It is a pretty good read in general - and TFA is just one of the ways that his predictions are coming true.

Re:Little Brother for everyone!

[mdwh2]

The really worrying thing is when the devices can be so small that you can't see them - and they can also therefore sneak past any "no camera" rules.

And this might be possible in just a few years. Yes I do find that worrying...

Re:Little Brother for everyone!

[wolverine1999]

Cars will be required to have this by 2012 actually in the EU...
it helps road safety!

A better solution is...

[Anonymous Coward]

...just remember Sammy Jenkins.

What could possibly go wrong?

[mi]

Could it be, that in 50 years, a person not wearing his camera will be viewed with deep suspicion?

What are you up to, that you don't want recorded?..

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[tepples]

What are you up to, that you don't want recorded?..

Watching a movie. If I carry my camera into the theater, they'll take it.

Writing is a big problem!

[Frans Faase]

Alzheimer's Disease is not only about memory. A recent article describes how certain cognive abilities, such as visuospatial skill, already start to decline three years before the first signs of memory imparement start to surface. My wife, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease about three years ago, can no longer write, not even her own name. She cannot even sign. She still thinks that she can write her name, but when she tries, she fails. Even copying her name from an example, is very hard for her. She can still read, although lately I have noticed, she is also starting to have problems with that. However, she still does most of our shoppings. She goes shopping almost everyday and I tell her what to buy. But I should limit the number of items to about three, otherwise she is getting trouble. If its more than one or two items, I have to give her a shopping list. I give her the list in the morning, before I go to my office, and in most cases it is only during the day, that she goes shopping. Her short-time memory is very poor. She can tell you the same story within five minutes, or also often loses her keys or makes things 'disappear' in the house.

Re:Writing is a big problem!

[sincewhen]

I'm just wondering, you mentioned above that she is from China. Would writing her name in Chinese be easier (as it is more ingrained)?

If practicing writing helps retain the skill, perhaps this would help.

Reading a clock is a big problem

[Frans Faase]

O yeah, besides reading be a problem, reading the time from a clock is even a bigger problem. I have removed the minute hand from some of our clocks in home, because already very earlier phases of Alzheimer's Disease, confusing the hour and minute hands is a big problem. A sense of time is also one of the things that is often lost early phases of the disease.

Too late.

[John Hasler]

The domain is already registered.

licensed???

[jipn4]

What's there to license? Standard digital cameras can be worn around your neck and have an interval function. There is absolutely nothing new here.

Gotta get me one of them ...

[aynoknman]

Gotta get me one of them to find out where I put down my reading glasses.

My prediction is

[xactuary]

With this technology all murders will be solved... "in about an hour."

Help! My camera's data has Alzheimers!

[david.emery]

What if Microsoft used Danger to store the images???

(Actually, it is good to see something from Microsoft Research make it to market, even if it's not Microsoft doing it...)

dave

A cop's wet dream

[feufeu]

That'll be the citizens who supervise *themselves* ! Just give the government (or...) full access to everyones data and even the UK can switch off their CCTV cameras ! Brilliant !

Granndpa's video blog

[PPH]

07:45:30 Face down in oatmeal.

07:46:00 Face down in oatmeal.

07:46:30 Face down in oatmeal.

07:47:00 Face down in oatmeal.

07:47:30 Nurse wiping oatmeal off face.

07:48:00 Face down in oatmeal.

Other uses for the technology : Nights out

[FishTankX]

This technology would be supremely useful for all of the people who got piss drunk and can't remember where they left their camera or parked their car.

"Always on" camera problems.

[Animats]

• Went to movie theater. Arrested for photographing movie.
• Walked by school. Arrested for photographing kids.
• Walked by cop. Arrested for photographing cop.
• Walked by power substation. Arrested for photographing infrastructure.
• Walked by military base. Arrested for suspected terrorism.

Re:"Always on" camera problems.

[VanessaE]

* Walked to court clerk's office to file lawsuits charging unlawful/false arrest.
* Walked to local TV station to clue the local media in on this outrage.

Remember, you can legally photograph anything, anyone, anytime, anywhere, as long as there aren't any clearly posted signs restricting it, even if there *are* signs of a "no trespassing" nature.

From the front lines of SenseCam/Revue research

[UniAce]

I'm a cognitive scientist and am a member of one of the teams who have been working with the MS SenseCam device (now to be called Vicon Revue), doing memory research. Most of us are academics and clinicians collaborating with Microsoft Research.

This kind of technology (i.e., wearable automated sensors, cameras, etc. that capture massive troves of data about one's experiences) is becoming cheaper, better, and more ubiquitous. But we're still just beginning to explore the many possibilities for research and for clinical or everyday applications. And of course with these possibilities come a host of technical, ethical, and social issues for us to confront.

We just concluded the SenseCam 2009 symposium in Chicago, which featured a lot of really interesting research and discussion, amongst collaborators from cognitive psychology, neuroscience, computer science, clinical psychology, public health, etc.

BillG-Borg graphic

[amitabh_mehta]

Slashdot's BillG-Borg graphic on Microsoft stories will be relevant again..

RIAAs new partner

[oniboy]

I guess if someone wearing this device went to watch a movie they wouldn't be so concerned as to where they had been but rather were they would be going after having unwittingly pirated a movie.
Could you imagine being caught, with the evidence literally hanging around your neck but not even being able to remember having watched the movie in the first place. This thing sounds like a great idea.

Not all roses

[Bozovision]

Microsoft have derived a stack of publicity from the Sensecam and lifeblogging - it's made them look like a terrific company. I think this PR needs some counter-balance: Microsoft made Lyndsey Williams, the inventor of the Sensecam, redundant. Possibly not the best way to reward someone who was responsible for millions of dollars of positive PR; you don't get rid of the people who are doing brilliant work if you plan on delivering brilliant products in the future. But this has probably been a good thing for the rest of us; Ms Williams is prolific in bringing new devices to prototype and beyond. Her site shows her recent work, including the Sensebulb - a device for non-intrusive monitoring of elderly people who live alone. It can detect unusual situations and alert friends and relatives. This would have saved the lives of two people I knew. She has a stack of other interesting projects on the go too. Her site is well worth reading.

Disclosure: I know Ms Williams and take the opportunity to promote her work whenever I can. I'm not paid for this: I'm not in PR.

Re:Not all roses

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft have derived a stack of publicity from the Sensecam and lifeblogging - it's made them look like a terrific company. I think this PR needs some counter-balance: Microsoft made Lyndsey Williams, the inventor of the Sensecam, redundant. Possibly not the best way to reward someone who was responsible for millions of dollars of positive PR; you don't get rid of the people who are doing brilliant work if you plan on delivering brilliant products in the future. But this has probably been a good thing for the rest of us; Ms Williams is prolific in bringing new devices to prototype and beyond. Her site shows her recent work, including the Sensebulb - a device for non-intrusive monitoring of elderly people who live alone. It can detect unusual situations and alert friends and relatives. This would have saved the lives of two people I knew. She has a stack of other interesting projects on the go too. Her site is well worth reading.

Disclosure: I know Ms Williams and take the opportunity to promote her work whenever I can. I'm not paid for this: I'm not in PR.

Hi Bozovision, Many thanks! You are correct into your comments, a bit more on my blog about Sensecam's true history which is not what Microsoft want people to see
  http://tinyurl.com/yjpz2hm
Microsoft have erased me completely from history.

Lyndsay Williams Cambridge

Movie tech meets real life

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, it worked in 50 First Dates!

copyright?

[ethorad]

How long till Alzheimers patients start getting sued for breach of copyright?

PS. Keep the price down.

[BraveSlice]

This is the concept I came up about 5 years ago, I still think it is marvelous idea (not for Alzheimer, but for trips and so). People said Im crazy. Big thump up to those brave people who made it happen! PS. Keep the price down.

Gargoyles!

[Cathy344]

Just one more step after Youtube, blogs, and Twitter to Neil Stephenson's gargoyles from Snow Crash.