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ViconRevue Records Every Minute of Your Life
The ViconRevue device is essentially a camera worn around your neck that records every minute of your life - or even every thirty seconds, depending on the setting. The ViconRevue may sound familiar; that's because it was originally developed as the SenseCam by Microsoft. It is now a product to be manufactured by a UK-based firm.
(ViconRevue lifelog camera)
The ViconRevue may aid dementia patients. In one instance, 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.
Here's what your memory will look like from now on: take a look at this sample image from the SenseCam.
(Lifelog picture of your life)
I find myself wondering what will happen if these devices become popular; what if you'd rather have a more interesting life in review? You can already buy 'Total Recall'-Style Fake Vacations; wouldn't it be fun to take a look back over your day and think that it was much better than it really was?
Science fiction fans are, as is so often the case, better prepared for this particular future than other people. Take a look at the Psypyx from John Barnes' 1998 novel Earth Made of Glass; it recorded your mental impressions. The ViconRevue is also similar to the alibi-archive from Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer.
As far as how the device would work, you might want to read Charles Stross' 2007 novel Halting State, which refers to the idea of a lifelog and how it would work in reality.
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.
Via New Scientist.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/20/2009)
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