Automatically assisting human memory: a SenseCam browser

Memory. 2011 Oct;19(7):785-95. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2010.509732. Epub 2011 Jun 1.

Abstract

SenseCams have many potential applications as tools for lifelogging, including the possibility of use as a memory rehabilitation tool. Given that a SenseCam can log hundreds of thousands of images per year, it is critical that these be presented to the viewer in a manner that supports the aims of memory rehabilitation. In this article we report a software browser constructed with the aim of using the characteristics of memory to organise SenseCam images into a form that makes the wealth of information stored on SenseCam more accessible. To enable a large amount of visual information to be easily and quickly assimilated by a user, we apply a series of automatic content analysis techniques to structure the images into "events", suggest their relative importance, and select representative images for each. This minimises effort when browsing and searching. We provide anecdotes on use of such a system and emphasise the need for SenseCam images to be meaningfully sorted using such a browser.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Automation
  • Cues*
  • Environmental Monitoring / instrumentation
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted*
  • Information Storage and Retrieval*
  • Memory, Episodic*
  • Mental Recall*
  • Microcomputers*
  • Patient Satisfaction
  • Photography / instrumentation*
  • Search Engine*
  • Self-Help Devices*
  • Software*
  • User-Computer Interface*