Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
SenseCam Seems To Help Dementia Patients
The SenseCam is a digital camera developed by Microsoft; it hangs around your neck and takes pictures of what you are seeing throughout the course of the day. The device was first introduced in 2004; more details about it are found in the previous article SenseCam Camera: Your Personal Black Box.
(The Microsoft SenseCam personal life events camera)
Results reported recently include the following anecdote; one woman who could only remember 2% of events from any given week could recall 80% of major events that occurred over a six week period when she reviewed the SenseCam's images for an hour every two days.
"Not only does SenseCam allow people to recall memories while they are looking at the images, which in itself is wonderful, but after an initial period of consolidation, it appears to lead to long-term retention of memories over many months, without the need to view the images repeatedly," says Emma Berry, a neuropsychologist who works as a consultant to Microsoft.
Science fiction fans might compare this device to the Psypyx from John Barnes' 1998 novel Earth Made of Glass; it recorded mental impressions.
More recently, I ran across this same idea in Charles Stross' excellent 2007 novel Halting State, which refers to the idea of a lifelog.
You shake your head and climb out of the car, tapping your ear-piece to tell your phone to listen up: "Arriving on SOC, time-stamp now. Start evidence log." It's logging anyway - everything you see on duty goes into the black box - but the voice marker is searchable. It saves the event from getting lost in your lifelog.
It would be fun to combine the SenseCam with the Self-contained motion capture suits created by Rolf Adelsberger; that way, you could not only tell what you were looking at, you could tell how you were sitting, standing or walking when the picture was taken.
Update 13-Dec-2007: See also this reference to the alibi-archive from Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer, contributed by Chris Johnston. End update.
Update 28-Oct-2009: The life recorder from Roger Zelazny's 1966 novel The Dream Master is an earlier reference to this idea in sf. End update.
From A Camera to Help Dementia Patients.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/12/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Culture ")
Drones Participate In Buddhist Rites
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.' - Roger Zelazny, 1967.
Peyton Manning's French Bread Olympics - Science Fiction Style
'the inauguration of the helium-filled loaf...'
Do Aliens Have A 'Non-Interference' Prime Directive?
'... it was against the law for our people to visit Earth.' - George Parsons Lathrup, 1897.
Collie Dog Suit Fulfills His Dream - Of Walking In Public As A Dog
'The Lon Chaney of the interstellar set.' - Roger Zelazny, 1976.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Wearable Energy Harvester
'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'
Drones Participate In Buddhist Rites
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'
Anna Indiana AI Singer-Songwriter
'She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents'
Video Manicuring ala Schismatrix
'The program raced up the screen one scan line at a time'
'Feel the AGI' OpenAI Leader Now OpenWorship
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'
NASA Tests Prototype Europa Lander
Why have legs if they don't walk around?
Tailsitter Drone Aircraft For SAR
'...it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair.'
Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'
Mika The Robot-Boss
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'
Yamaha Motoroid 2 No Handlebars Self-Balancing Motorcycle
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'
San Francisco Autobus
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street...'
Should Your Car Decide If You Can Drive?
'Okay. Maybe the car was right...'
Lucid Dreams On Demand From Prophetic and Card79
'the peeper did not operate by virtue of its machinery alone, but by the reaction of the brain and the body of its user...'
Honda UNI-ONE Hands-Free Wheelchair Follows 100 Year-Old Design
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...'
EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer
'McKie held a chalf-memory stick over the dusted surface.'
Sensitive, Soft Robot Skin
'...tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
