Lifelogging – recording every single minute of your life (or as much of it as possible) – continues its unstoppable march towards the mainstream with the announcement that Vicon will soon release a life recording device called the Revue.  The device  is worn around your neck and automatically takes photos up to every 30 seconds.  The Revue boasts an accelerometer, light sensor, and heat sensor that allow it to automatically take pictures at key moments when the wearer enters a new environment, confronts a person, and so on.  With an ability to capture 30,000 images per gigabyte the camera can easily capture 10 days worth of footage.  Although the device sounds pretty cool at first (or creepy depending on your perspective) there are several hurdles that need to be overcome for the product to be useful to more than a niche audience.  The Revue probably won’t be a huge success, but it is still notable, foretelling a breed of much more powerful life recording devices soon to follow.

From more extreme individuals wearing video cameras on their foreheads to the average Joe carrying a phone that can take photos and videos, humans across the globe are augmenting themselves with life recording abilities.  Handheld devices allow us to post tweets, pics, and video clips to the web in a snap.  Life recording software such as Kyte for the iphone allows us to create our own online channels that document our lives.  In London an individual is said to be caught on up to 300 surveillance cameras in a single day.  These examples and more show that the life recorder from Vicon is just a small drop in a burgeoning sea of lifelogging culture.

Read More