'Lifelogging' camera with no off switch

[Hum]

When Martin Kaellstroem was a young adult, he lost both his parents to cancer. It became a spur for him to seize the day, as a person and an entrepreneur.

The result: A lens with no off-button that captures every moment of your life.

The 38-year-old co-founder of Swedish company Memoto is a man in a hurry as he promotes his "lifelogging" camera, which is worn with a clip on the shirt or on a string around the neck, and takes a picture once every 30 seconds.

"When you lose your parents, you realise that you don't live forever. It has definitely affected me in my entrepreneurship. I can't wait until later to fulfil my dreams, I have to live my dream now," he said.

Some may see parallels with George Orwell's 1984, the Truman Show or other dystopias. But the team behind the Memoto camera insists that it doesn't breach any privacy. Rather, they see it as a way to collect memories.

"Traditionally, people only brought their camera to special events when everyone was dressed up, smiling into the camera," Kaellstroem said.

"But you don't know in advance which moments will be important in the future. Perhaps you meet your future wife or witness an accident or a crime, pictures you might want to return to."

Lifelogging, a technique for digitally gathering daily moments, is a growing phenomenon, gaining popularity with mobile applications such as Saga, which creates info graphics summarising your life through your smartphone data, and health trackers like Runkeeper and Moves.

Following the success of calling software Skype, music streaming service Spotify and video game developer Dice - all technologies with a heavy Swedish component - the next big thing could be a device logging your life in pictures.

The Memoto camera, which resembles an iPod mini, collects a stream of pictures, automatically sorted according to the GPS-location, time and light. The 'memory timeline' can be shared on social media such as Facebook or Twitter.

It is a tool for a new tech-savvy world without the patience to keep a diary, according to co-founder Oskar Kalmaru.

"There are two main types of users," he said.

"The first category, to which I belong, is the collector who saves and organises the memories, but only shares them with a small circle of close friends and family. The other group is more social, aiming to share a creative and active life through various social media platforms."

But classmates, employees and neighbours may not want to be caught on film, much less people in witness protection programmes or other sensitive areas of life.

Lifelogging does raise some privacy questions, says Steven Savage, a researcher at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, noting that the private sphere is relative: what is not offensive to one person might be to another.

"It depends where the photos end up," Savage said.

"Today, it is difficult to search pictures, but new technology is being developed all the time. Once those pictures become searchable, more questions will arise. You'll lose control over the situation."

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[astropheed Veteran]

It would see a computer screen for half the day, a roof for quarter of the day (sleeping). I'd have to take it off during my martial arts training anyways so that just leaves me cooking dinner, watching TV and playing with my Wife.

[Hum]

... and playing with my Wife.

 

 

I foresee a new reality TV show. :shifty:

[astropheed Veteran]

I foresee a new reality TV show. :shifty:

 

damn, I actually meant playing... I can see where this may be misconstrued lol.

[PNWDweller]

Better than the guy with a camera in the back of his head.  :)

 

For the whole non stop logging - wonder where it is put for when he bathes or those moments when he is in the bedroom with his significant other.  I'll bet it is pointing up to the ceiling, down to the floor or otherwise turned away.  (at least it would be for me)

 

We all have some sort of implementation ourselves of this.  Take a look at Facebook, the blogs we write, the instant sharing of photos we take online without thinking, it all adds up.  Your Smartphone also records your every location with the right software where you have traveled (which some might say you don't need to do this), and timestamps it.  Google Glass is yet another extension of this so you can life cast  ala JustinTV or whatnot.  

 

Historians in the distant future will probably look back on all of this and sit in wonder or awww at how primitive we once were with this tech and and how they can actually see the birth of it many centuries later after it has become a common thing in society and children are preset with it from birth via an implant. 

[Growled Member]

The 38-year-old co-founder of Swedish company Memoto is a man in a hurry as he promotes his "lifelogging" camera, which is worn with a clip on the shirt or on a string around the neck, and takes a picture once every 30 seconds.

 

And people say Google Glass is bad?