Twitter Evolution : Lifelog
Started as research project at Microsoft Research, the innovative SenseCam Technology aimed at helping people with memory loss problems. The SenseCam is a digital camera that you wear on a necklace and takes a picture every 30 seconds without user intervention. It’s equipped with different sensors such as light-intensity and light-color sensors, a passive infrared (body heat) detector, a temperature sensor, and a multiple-axis accelerometer that create the input signal to automatically trigger a photo shoot.
This device has also a sound recorder, built-in GPS and all those nice features to create a digital copy of your life timeline.
Michael Arrington and the techcrunch readers discussed this life recorder and broke it down in all aspects (see the brainstorming here)
Some people were worried about device loss or theft. I wonder how do they protect their mobile phone or laptop? But what really amazed me in the discussion though is how most of the readers were concerned about the privacy issues. Ironically, the same readers are either facebook or twitter users. Furthermore, I think these people really need this device because they seem to have memory loss issues and forgot that they had privacy issues with social networking and blogging before they came a trend. As everything in this world, this trend either evolves or dies. Looking at the daily increase in the number of bloggers/facebook users/twitterers, I doubt the trend would die.
The SenseCam could certainly benefit from a SIM card to connect it to a network, yet another application for mobile broadband enabling remote storage, geo-tagging, face recognition, …
Probably we are not ready to accept such a device today, but the amount of information that we need to remember and the multiple changes going on around us are getting faster and faster. Sooner or later, we will need such devices to support our brain and memory. Imagine that you can index, search and retrieve the information you record at any time in the past. Look for patterns in your life that could help your taking decisions…
Take a look at this video featuring James May from BBC demonstrating the SenseCam.
I was in an accident years ago which damaged my short term memory severely, I am almost as bad as the character in 50 1st dates (movie). I am on a regime of meds just to have some memory function, I would love to try this product if it ever markets. I literally MUST right everything down day in and out.