Remembering through lifelogging: A survey of human memory augmentation

Human memory is unquestionably a vital cognitive ability but one that can often be unreliable. External memory aids such as diaries, photos, alarms and calendars are often employed to assist in remembering important events in our past and future. The recent trend for lifelogging, continuously documenting ones life through wearable sensors and cameras, presents a clear opportunity to augment human memory beyond simple reminders and actually improve its capacity to remember. This article surveys work from the fields of computer science and psychology to understand the potential for such augmentation, the technologies necessary for realising this opportunity and to investigate what the possible benefits and ethical pitfalls of using such technology might be.