Wearable computers as an aid to human memory

Recent developments in hardware are allowing us to automatically capture events in our working lives. Xerox have produced a development of the Olivetti active badge (a small 'wearable' device that allows one to record which room of a building one is in) called the PARCTab. The PARCTab is essentially a personal digital assistant (PDA) with an active badge attached to it, which is in continuous wireless communication with a central server. Jottings on the PARCTab screen, made during a meeting say, can therefore be captured centrally. Similar futuristic devices make it possible to remember what we did on the computers on our desks: what files we used and when, our e-mail, etc. For many of us, such computer use makes up a significant part of our working lives. Memory problems make us all less efficient in our work. If these can be alleviated, even in a small way, the gains would be enormous. We believe that our work can achieve this, and we hope the result will be a system that everyone will be able to use, and that everyone will want to use. We can imagine a future where personal memory aid devices are as common as wristwatches.