Digital technology could soon make forgetfulness a thing of the past, but do we really want that? Just as glasses and hearing aids are now commonplace, scientists are working on day-to-day digital devices to help us remember. Wendy Hall, a professor of computer science at Southampton University says: “We think that soon we‘ll be able to develop a technology that will actually enable you to remember. We really think within the next five to 10 years you‘ll be able to be helped by memory aids.” Most of us already outsource our memories to electronic devices. Our mobiles remember phone numbers, and GPS systems do the same for directions. Engineer Lyndsay Williams, working for Microsoft Research in Cambridge, developed the SenseCam - a small digital camera to be worn around the neck. It takes pictures every 30 seconds, or when it detects a change in light or heat. At the end of the day you can review all the pictures - perhaps 2,000 shots - in a few minutes. While reviewing, you remember everything you‘d thought about -thoughts you might have forgotten. Microsoft isn‘t planning to market the SenseCam, but researchers say it can provide real help for people who suffer from Alzheimer‘s or severe memory loss.
These memory aids is might free up our minds to do other things, or help us relax because we know we have our precious memories stored. But is being able to remember more always a good thing? Professor Jim McGaugh, of the University of California, has his doubts. He has studied rare people with “hyperthymestic syndrome” - an ability to remember what happened on every day of their adult life. Among them is Jill Price.
“If I ask her what happened on 12 May, 1993, she‘ll say first of all the day of the week and then she‘ll say something of what she did that day. If there was a significant public event - a plane crash, a train crash, a war - she‘d be able to give the details. If she thinks of the date today, then she‘ll think of the date last year and the year before and the year before,” he says. “Then she‘ll come across a day in which something terrible happened and that‘s very disturbing to her.”
O autorovi| BBC
