iRemember how it all started

Welcome. This blog is a forum for QTech to talk about some of our interests.

I'll start with a topic that I've spent some years working on: computer-based memory aids. I've been asked why I got involved in this area. In a sense, it is an offshoot from earlier work on organizational memory. The problem of helping organizations remember better has been studied for years. Sociologists have done fieldwork, MBAs have done case studies, research groups have built "groupware" prototype, companies have built products, etc. Many blog entries could be spent talking about each of these, why it's hard, etc. I'll fast forward to the connection with personal memory aids.

While reflecting on the various ways one might address the myriad of organizational memory problems and solutions, I became fascinated with the idea of improving the whole by improving the parts. Put another way, can some organizational memory problems be remedied by improving individuals' memories?

This in turn led me to some of the oft-cited personal memory aid work: Memex, ParcTab, Remembrance Agent, etc. Most technological approaches at that time had limitations: a non-trivial data entry requirement, storage limitations, etc. I wanted something that had lower data-entry barriers (i.e. talking vs. typing). At the time I started the iRemember project (a.k.a., "What Was I Thinking?"), some of the key technology enablers (e.g., speech recognition, speech-recognition-quality high-capacity digital recorders) were getting good enough for a research effort.

Fast forward again a few years, and I was recording my life and searching it like I Google search. The original hypothesis remains unanswered. For now, I'm partially satisfied that I remember how it all started.