Augmenting human memory using personal lifelogs

Memory is a key human facility to support life activities, including social interactions, life management and problem solving. Unfortunately, our memory is not perfect. Normal individuals will have occasional memory problems which can be frustrating, while those with memory impairments can often experience a greatly reduced quality of life. Augmenting memory has the potential to make normal individuals more effective, and those with significant memory problems to have a higher general quality of life. Current technologies are now making it possible to automatically capture and store daily life experiences over an extended period, potentially even over a lifetime. This type of data collection, often referred to as a personal life log (PLL), can include data such as continuously captured pictures or videos from a first person perspective, scanned copies of archival material such as books, electronic documents read or created, and emails and SMS messages sent and received, along with context data of time of capture and access and location via GPS sensors. PLLs offer the potential for memory augmentation. Existing work on PLLs has focused on the technologies of data capture and retrieval, but little work has been done to explore how these captured data and retrieval techniques can be applied to actual use by normal people in supporting their memory. In this paper, we explore the needs for augmenting human memory from normal people based on the psychology literature on mechanisms about memory problems, and discuss the possible functions that PLLs can provide to support these memory augmentation needs. Based on this, we also suggest guidelines for data for capture, retrieval needs and computer-based interface design. Finally we introduce our work-in-process prototype PLL search system in the iCLIPS project to give an example of augmenting human memory with PLLs and computer based interfaces

Smart Conversational Agents for Reminiscence

In this paper we describe the requirements and early system design for a smart conversational agent that can assist older adults in the reminiscence process. The practice of reminiscence has well documented benefits for the mental, social and emotional well-being of older adults. However, the technology support, valuable in many different ways, is still limited in terms of need of co-located human presence, data collection capabilities, and ability to support sustained engagement, thus missing key opportunities to improve care practices, facilitate social interactions, and bring the reminiscence practice closer to those with less opportunities to engage in co-located sessions with a (trained) companion. We discuss conversational agents and cognitive services as the platform for building the next generation of reminiscence applications, and introduce the concept application of a smart reminiscence agent

Creating Memories: Writing and Designing More Memorable Documents

If communication’s purpose is to enable action or belief (Johnson-Sheehan, 2012), then communication will be more effective—and thus more ethical—if the audience can easily remember it. However, the study of memory has long been neglected in English Studies. Therefore, communicators lack strategies for enhancing documents’ memorableness and an ethical framework for assessing (un)memorable documents and composing processes. To develop an “ethic of memory” and identify strategies that enhance a document’s memorableness, I asked twenty subjects—ten teachers and ten college freshman—to walk down a high school hallway in which various posters and flyers had been posted by the administration, teachers, or students. Then I interviewed the subjects about their recollections, reasons for remembering this information, and the likelihood that they might apply it. One week later, I conducted a follow-up interview to determine which information “stuck,” the subjects’ self-reported reasons why, and their likelihood of applying it. I counted the number of information units and specific details that the subjects remembered at each interview, and I also categorized the types of details they recalled. I coded the subjects’ reasons for remembering and (not) applying information according to commonly-accepted design and psychological terms drawn from Universal Principles of Design by Lidwell et al. The subjects’ memories were very consistent in both quantity and quality from the first to the second interview, indicating that documents influence long-term memory. Certain posters and flyers were remembered much more often than others, demonstrating that rhetorical and design strategies affect a documents’ memorableness. The codes “schema” and “relevance” were very consistent themes in the subjects’ interview responses; so-called “self-schema” shape judgments of relevance, which then affect efforts to encode information into memory. This study describes six strategies for engaging an audience’s collective self-schema, prompting the audience to ascribe relevance to documents and thus endeavor to encode them: convey practical value; use the familiar; use contrast, color, and imagery; use unexpected elements; arouse emotion and build social currency; and “break-and-remake” existing schema

Towards a Framework for Capturing and Distributing Rich Interactive Human Digital Memories

The area of human digital memories has placed considerable focus on documenting the things we do, the places we visit and the thoughts we think. Rather than sharing important events face–to–face, i.e. by watching home videos together or looking through photo albums, people tend to share their memories with each other through emails or text messages, or by posting them online. The difficulty is that the vast amounts of data we collect are often difficult to access and less meaningful to us over time. The challenge is to structure human digital memories in a way that can be easily distributed and recollected at different time periods in our lives. More specifically, the collection and organisation of memory-related information (images, video, physiological data and so on) needs to occur using ubiquitous ad hoc services, prevalent within the environments we occupy. This is likely to happen without us necessarily being aware that memories are being created. This will remove the need to manage the growing number of information sources that require conventional tools to achieve this, for example, a camera to take stills and video. This paper posits a new and novel idea that builds on the nomadic nature of people, ubiquitous computing, context awareness, physiological computing, semantic annotation and ad hoc networking that will allow rich interactive digital memories to be created amongst individuals and their environments that are unobtrusive to individuals

Graphy: Exploring the potential of the Contacts application

The number of mobile devices is growing very fast. Smart phones and tablets are, step by step, replacing desktops and laptops as the primary method of computing in daily life. Along with the rapid evolution of mobile devices, the applications on them are undergoing fast transformation. We can see many improvements in traditional applications (messaging, calling, etc.) like multimedia text messages, video calls, voice over IP and so forth. However, the Contacts application has not changed much while it has many potentials. In this thesis, we propose a new model which improves the Contacts application by introducing three novel capabilities: searching for contacts by their miscellaneous information, retaining knowledge of contacts via a tags system, and establishing a Personal Social Network which consists of the relationships between the contacts. By introducing these capabilities, the model helps its users to accomplish new tasks which are not currently handled by modern Contacts applications. Furthermore, the model is implemented and become a fully functional prototype on iOS and Android. The prototype is then evaluated in a user study and a system performance test. The studies yield positive results which indicate that the three new capabilities are valuable and should be included in today’s Contacts applications

Making memory: techne, technology, and the refashioning of contemporary memory

My dissertation answers two questions: Does the tension between interactive technologies and rhetoric re-shape the nature and relevance of the canon of memory? Do interactive technologies affect the ways we remember and persuade? I argue that my interpretation of techne suggests possibilities for the creation and production of new types of memory in combination with digital media. To interrogate this connection, I suggest three interpretations of the Greek concept, techne: as a process that is inherently productive; as a force that renegotiates contemporary sources of social power; and as a skill that balances expert knowledge with instrumentality. I explore the creative possibilities of making memory in several examples such as digital archives, photo manipulation, and digital collaborative pedagogy. In Chapter One, I begin by reviewing how memory has been employed since its characterization as one of the five canons. Starting with Plato\u27s Phaedrus and ending with Merlin Donald\u27s Origins of the Modern Mind and Collin Gifford Brooke\u27s Lingua Fracta, my thorough treatment of memory illustrates that even though memory has persisted through the centuries, it has not been properly adapted as a foundation of rhetoric for use in connection with information technologies. Chapter Two is a critical exploration of techne as well as an argument that states how techne and memory should be thought of as complimentary forces. New technologies afford users the possibilities to create and replicate memories, thus understanding techne as a characteristic of digital memory is critical for contemporary rhetorical practices. Chapter Three is an exploration of three digital archives: The Wayback Machine, The 9/11 Digital Archive, and The Soweto \u2776 Archive. By looking at digital archives, I argue that visitors are encouraged to participate in memory making, indicating a shift from consumerist trends of memory towards productive memorial spaces. I use the term technemonic to suggest the devices, spaces, or tokens (digital or otherwise) that we make or collect to remember a particular event. In chapter four, I argue that memory is a persuasive construct--it is not a concrete structure, as we tend to think it is, but rather it is extremely fluid and easily subjected to recreation by the slightest suggestive details. I examine two specific vectors of memory manipulation: external photo manipulation and internal cognitive manipulation. Chapter Five questions the implications of technologies used through the process of techne to change the canon of memory. This final chapter will discuss how technologies have always affected memory and why those influences are critical to contemporary rhetoric studies. In particular, Chapter Five will deal with the new sources and boundaries of control individuals have (or do not have) over their digital memories

MACE – Enriching Architectural Learning Objects for Experience Multiplication.

Stefaner, M., Dalla Vecchia, E., Condotta, M., Wolpers, M., Specht, M., Apelt, M., Duval, E. (2007) MACE – Enriching Architectural Learning Objects for Experience Multiplication. In: Duval, E., Klamma, R., & Wolpers, M. (eds.) EC-TEL 2007. LNCS 4753; Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; pp. 322-336.Education in architecture requires access to a broad range of architectural learning material to develop flexibility and creativity in design. The learning material is compromised of digital information captured in textual and visual media including single images, videos, description of architectural concepts or complete architectural projects, i.e. digital artifacts on different aggregation levels. The repositories storing such information are not interrelated and do not provide unified access so that retrieval of architectural learning objects is cumbersome and time consuming. In this paper, we describe how an infrastructure of federated architectural learning repositories will provide unique, integrated access facilities for high quality architectural content. The integration of various types of content, usage, social and contextual metadata enables users to develop multiple perspectives and navigation paths that support experience multiplication for the user. A service– oriented software architecture that is based on open standards, and a flexible user interface design solutions based on widgets ensure easy integration and re- combinability of contents, metadata and functionalities

Thesis Inquiry & Process: Something About Reality

This thesis documents the employment of a system of Process and Inquiry as it serves as a structural foundation for an investigation of the manner in which Reality is represented in visual portraiture. Through a vigorous exploration of the concept of Reality and its singular nature, it is hypothesized that intrinsically unique experiences could potentially be communicated through the perceptive abilities of the emotional quotient. The effects of media, timing, complexity, abstraction, and authenticity are examined for their effect on the apparent clarity of concepts transmitted in this manner. The inquiry ultimately manifests in the daily creation of self-portraiture, as well as a multimedia exhibition inspired by the theatrical arts, that speak to the communal understanding of the Human Experience

Personal Memory and Digital Mobile Media: How A Product and A Web Platform Can Improve Digital Memory Archiving

Our technology has been evolving so rapidly and our ability to capture our moments has been become so accessible, we are creating hundreds of thousands of digital files. When we were operating with analog methods of memory making and archiving it was much easier to organize our files because we had fewer or them and they were often all sentimental because of their value. Today, it is hard to distinguish between all of our digital files to determine which ones are most important and even to determine where they are. The creation of social media has created an interesting dynamic for our memory making because we are capturing moments and posting them to online social networks, allowing these digital artifacts to create a life of their own. These social networks sites can also act as a place for identity creation and curation, and a new phenomena. During the research phase of this project my goal was to better understand the topic of memory making and archiving, both physical and digital. We have been capturing memories and archiving them since the beginning of our existence but with this rapid change in technology we are starting to move away from analyzing our physical presence more and are becoming enveloped in our digital worlds. I explored the ways in which we could bring ourselves back to physical world through the creation of a digital legacy that creates a narrative of one’s life. I launched surveys and research activities to learn more about people’s current habits and what they might want to change about their digital legacies. After the research phase, where I defined my design objectives, I moved into the design phase where I began talking with users and creating products that could assist in this process. I developed a physical product and a web platform that allows users to begin creating their own digital legacies that are more organized and can be shared with others if they were to die. The physical product acts as a storage device for the user’s digital legacy and the web platform acts as the shoebox or scrapbook, it is where the creation, organizing and viewing of the digital legacy occurs. Together the user is able to create and store a legacy that is sharable with others. The topic of digital archiving and digital legacies for millennials who are the biggest user group of the internet and social media sites is a rising topic. There are several groups trying to tackle the issue and social media companies are adapting their platforms to accommodate better memory recall. The inclusion of artificial intelligence and smart products in the home is also a growing field, with products like amazon echo and siri. As we progress as a society we are going to be living with technology, it is going to be all around us. Through Totem, my goal is to spark conversation about the growing topics of memory recall, digital archiving, digital legacies and death prep