main
Report a problem

IBM software acts as human memory backup

James7   on 02 August 2008 - 10:10 · 11 comments & 5615 views

Advertisement (Why?)
Ever try to remember who you bumped into at the store a few days back? Or exactly what the company president said at the morning meeting?

Well, you're not alone. And IBM researchers are working on software that just may help you better recollect all the forgotten pieces of your life.

This week, the company unveiled software that uses images, sounds and text recorded on everyday mobile devices to help people recall names, faces, conversations and events. Dubbed Pensieve, the software organizes bits of collected information, stores them and then helps the user extract them later on.

View: Full article

Post a comment · Send to friend Comments · There are 11 additional comments
#1 Sawyer12 on 02 Aug 2008 - 11:36
Tivoli For Humans :-p
(4 replies) #2 HalcyonX12 on 02 Aug 2008 - 15:39
Why are people into this type of software? The less you exercise your mind by relying on automatic devices, the less useful and responsive your mind will be. Who are all of these forgetful people anyway? Maybe if you have alzheimer's, but that's on the verge of being cured...
#2.1 +Dakkaroth on 02 Aug 2008 - 20:10
Eh, I have a problem with short term memory. Problem seems to be with my mind thinking too much actually. Worrying about schedules and things you have to do, as well as what to prepare for tomorrow and tomorrow's schedule. Then you realize you just forgot what your girlfriend told you not to forget.
#2.2 Harreh on 02 Aug 2008 - 20:35
(Dakkaroth said @ #2.1)
Eh, I have a problem with short term memory. Problem seems to be with my mind thinking too much actually. Worrying about schedules and things you have to do, as well as what to prepare for tomorrow and tomorrow's schedule. Then you realize you just forgot what your girlfriend told you not to forget.


Mabey it's because you've smoked too much weed .
Short term memory? Paranoia/anxiety? All the symptoms .
#2.3 HalcyonX12 on 02 Aug 2008 - 20:54
(Dakkaroth said @ #2.1)
Eh, I have a problem with short term memory. Problem seems to be with my mind thinking too much actually. Worrying about schedules and things you have to do, as well as what to prepare for tomorrow and tomorrow's schedule. Then you realize you just forgot what your girlfriend told you not to forget.


I understand but it's easier for you to learn how to deal with that problem rather than put a crutch on it for a while because you will come to rely on that crutch. If you stop exercising certain aspects of your body or mind they will shut down and energy will be diverted to something your body perceives as more important.

I had the same problem with my mind thinking too much, and feeling too much pressure from responsibilities as well, and there got to be a point where I was losing sleep over it so much that I really could not keep up with thinking like that all the time or my responsibilities. I literally had to choose between worrying about stuff and getting sleep. Well, once it got bad enough I had to eventually say to hell with my worries, and get some f***ing sleep. Honestly sometimes there is no over-reaching all-encompassing solution and you have to choose your well being over other problems, even sometimes when other people need help. You have so much more potential when you reach equilibrium, and when you're struggling to make it you're hardly of any help to anyone and probably more people spend time worrying about you so overall you are probably a drain on people around you. Chances are if you feel that way you're not in the right situation or you're not paying attention to what you need to keep yourself focused and happy, and instead you're worrying about problems without being well in the first place and are worsening your situation by stretching yourself further out. That's gonna snowball someday.

So anyway sorry to digress but there's no magic button you can press to solve any situation, and it's going to cause you to neglect something else. Even if you're not aware of what that is now, later on it will bite you in the ass. Later on you will be old and have less energy to deal with that type of problem too and things will start piling up in a much worse way, so you might as well deal with that problem now instead of saving them for when you're over the hill

So getting back on topic, I really am not sure who this type of device is for. Maybe if you're a QA inspector at some company or something and you really want to grill someone hard.
#2.4 kev64 on 02 Aug 2008 - 23:29
Resistance is futile
#3 Antaris on 02 Aug 2008 - 17:41
As long as its not based on Lotus Notes
(1 reply) #4 Kreuger on 02 Aug 2008 - 19:31
Well it seems like a cool idea but I'm just wondering about people's privacy becoming a problem. Although in this day and age, it pretty much is anyway so might as well just make yourself an easier target.
#4.1 HalcyonX12 on 02 Aug 2008 - 20:58
Some people just don't keep a lot of stuff private. They'll spam it everywhere on blogs and then be upset when other people that aren't on the other side of the planet notice. Of course then there are devious uses when people coordinate all of the data pieces about you and then try to derive other information about you from that. Because then it's stuff that you didn't necessarily express that people are able to find out about you anyway. And when you start getting into that territory, who knows what people can implicate you for? You could be on your way to gitmo!
#5 toadeater on 03 Aug 2008 - 05:42
I'd like to keep those pieces forgotten.
#6 Magallanes on 03 Aug 2008 - 12:19
lol, IBM want to reinvent the wheel.

Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!

Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.

Advertisement (Why?)