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Tech Monthly: Bright: AND 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ... LIFELOGGING(Observer (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Storing details of everything you do isn't a new concept, but a new breed of apps and gadgets is helping. . . 1 Lifelogging apps for smartphones There are several dedicated lifelogging apps for smartphones in 2014, taking advantage of the data and sensors inside your device. Saga styles itself as a "digital autobiography" pulling information in from various other apps. Narrato describes itself as a digital journal, while OptimizeMe captures data, then helps you analyse it for correlations between, say, activity levels and stress. 2 Fitness trackers are big A growing number of people own wearable activity trackers like Nike's FuelBand, Fitbit or the Jawbone UP, (far right) and team these with fitness and diet apps like MyFitnessPal or RunKeeper (left) to monitor their efforts to stay in shape. Some apps - Moves being one example - are extending to other forms of data. Moves doesn't just know how many steps you've taken in a day, but also where you've been. 3 There is dedicated hardware A new generation of lifelogging cameras is designed to be worn so they can capture photos throughout the day. Autographer (right) is a pounds 400 camera capable of shooting up to 2,000 shots a day while worn around the neck or clipped onto clothing. 4 Big tech companies are sniffing around In January, Sony unveiled a device called Core, a wrist-worn activity tracker that connects to a smartphone app called LifeLogger. The app uses data from Core as well as your photos, music choices and social networking updates. 5 Wearables capture more data Devices like Samsung's Galaxy Gear and Google's Glass are worn throughout the day, with various sensors to capture data - and apps to help make use of them. 6 Social services get logging Facebook's annual Year in Review feature aims to show you your "biggest moments". Twitter now lets you download your archive of tweets and browse them by month. And Spotify's Year in Review 2013 showed each user what they'd been listening to most. 7 It really isn't a new thing Microsoft's MyLifeBits project attracted attention in the early 2000s, as researcher Gordon Bell digitally captured a lifetime's photos, messages and work. 8 Lifelogging gets emotional The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had a project called Inside Out: Reflecting on Your Inner State, which matched photos with measurements of the user's skin temperature and conductivity to map happy and stressful moments. 9 Lifelogging can be art In Alan Kwan's Bad Trip, his wearable video camera captures his daily life, and uploads the data to a 3D virtual world. Another artist, Stephen Cartwright, records his latitude, longitude and elevation every hour, and turns the data into artworks. 10 Privacy issues loom large There are two thorny issues around lifelogging: your privacy, and that of others. The wearable cameras raise questions of permission from the people who are captured, especially if those photos are later published. (c) 2014 Guardian Newspapers Limited. |