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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."
08:12 - "Hmmm, I trolled slashdot. Oh well." ...
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Table-ized A.I.
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.
6:24 AM - Took a dump
7:45 AM - Woke up