Human memory can be maddeningly elusive. We stumble upon its limitations every day, when we forget a friend's telephone number, the name of a business contact or the title of a favorite book. People have developed a variety of strategies for combating forgetfulness--messages scribbled on Post-it notes, for example, or electronic address books carried in handheld devices--but important information continues to slip through the cracks. Recently, however, our team at Microsoft Research has begun a quest to digitally chronicle every aspect of a person's life, starting with one of our own lives (Bell's). For the past six years, we have attempted to record all of Bell's communications with other people and machines, as well as the images he sees, the sounds he hears and the Web sites he visits--storing everything in a personal digital archive that is both searchable and secure.

Digital memories can do more than simply assist the recollection of past events, conversations and projects. Portable sensors can take readings of things that are not even perceived by humans, such as oxygen levels in the blood or the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. Computers can then scan these data to identify patterns: for instance, they might determine which environmental conditions worsen a child's asthma. Sensors can also log the three billion or so heartbeats in a person's lifetime, along with other physiological indicators, and warn of a possible heart attack. This information would allow doctors to spot irregularities early, providing warnings before an illness becomes serious. Your physician would have access to a detailed, ongoing health record, and you would no longer have to rack your brain to answer questions such as "When did you first feel this way?"

This article was originally published with the title A Digital Life.

4 Comments

1. 1. bilsan62 06:50 AM 12/22/07

   The prospect of having endless, recallable memories is so exciting that I'm afraid that the author has glossed over the privacy issue. I do not have the right to record a phone conversation without meeting some strict criteria; similarly, photographic someone without permission can often be unlawful. Opening up the can of worms about recorded sexual encounters is especially Pandoric. PLEASE take this article ONLY as a basis for discussion, not as a proposal.

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2. 2. Digital Life Artist 06:52 AM 9/2/08

   George Dimopoulos provides an updated aspect of paperless work- and lifestyles in his new book Paperless Joy. The impact of the paperless trend on the environment, human relations, business and global development is addressed along with a comprehensive practical guide on how to go paperless. see:
   http://www.paperlessjoy.com
   
   or google Paperless Joy

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3. 3. cjniya 11:01 AM 11/3/09

   Nowadays Internet becomes one part of our life, some people could not live a day without computers. It seems like our eyes are located on the screen now. Maybe in the future humans eyes would develop in this direction which would give eyes more function to let them be suitable for the screens. Or the evolutionary would give our eyes more power and long arms, on which we could hang the <a href="http://www.ybuw.com/Wristbands/Customwristbands.asp">rubber wristbands</a> for the parties. Maybe after thousands of years, in the dancing floor or in the concern, it is not our hands put up but our eyes.
   Since the little thing named World Wide Web had born, this world changes in a high speed which is closed to the ray velocity. Once upon a time, we need to check out whether both genders of mosquito would bite human beings and we need to buy books, such as encyclopedia. But nowadays we could search almost everything in Google. And we have Wiki to give us enough information of every subject. And we have eBay that could help us doing the purchasing and selling, not to mention the YouTube, which plays a more and more important role in our life. It changed. In the ancient time, our life is arranged by the farm work and the sun lights and corns and wheals were the carrier of social wealth. In the Middle Age, the landlord could rule everything of every farmer on his land. And in the industry age, things became more and more civilization but our schedule was still set by the working time and their labor was the way to create social wealth. And now the century we live might be titled under Computer Age for computer becomes an important tool for creating social wealth.
   If one day God take back all the digital equipment from the earth, it might be the judgment day for the human beings in this age.
   

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4. 4. cjniya 11:04 AM 11/3/09

   Nowadays Internet becomes one part of our life, some people could not live a day without computers. It seems like our eyes are located on the screen now. Maybe in the future humans’ eyes would develop in this direction which would give eyes more function to let them be suitable for the screens. Or the evolutionary would give our eyes more power and long arms, on which we could hang the <a href="http://www.ybuw.com/Wristbands/Customwristbands.asp">rubber wristbands</a> for the parties. Maybe after thousands of years, in the dancing floor or in the concern, it is not our hands put up but our eyes.
   Since the little thing named World Wide Web had born, this world changes in a high speed which is closed to the ray velocity. Once upon a time, we need to check out whether both genders of mosquito would bite human beings and we need to buy books, such as encyclopedia. But nowadays we could search almost everything in Google. And we have Wiki to give us enough information of every subject. And we have eBay that could help us doing the purchasing and selling, not to mention the YouTube, which plays a more and more important role in our life. It changed. In the ancient time, our life is arranged by the farm work and the sun lights and corns and wheals were the carrier of social wealth. In the Middle Age, the landlord could rule everything of every farmer on his land. And in the industry age, things became more and more civilization but our schedule was still set by the working time and their labor was the way to create social wealth. And now the century we live might be titled under Computer Age for computer becomes an important tool for creating social wealth.
   If one day God take back all the digital equipment from the earth, it might be the judgment day for the human beings in this age.
   

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this