The rise of "lifelogging" in this era of rapid technological innovation has led to great interest in whether such technologies could be used to rehabilitate memory. Despite the growing number of studies using lifelogging, such as with wearable cameras, there is a lack of a theoretical framework to support its effective use. The present review focuses on the use of wearable cameras. We propose that wearable cameras can be particularly effective for memory rehabilitation if they can evoke more than a mere familiarity with previous stimuli, and reinstate previous thoughts, feelings and sensory information: recollection. Considering that, in memory impairment, self-initiated processes to reinstate previous encoding conditions are compromised, we invoke the environmental support hypothesis as a theoretical motivation.Twenty-five research studies were included in this review. We conclude that, despite the general acceptance of the value of wearable cameras as a memory rehabilitation technique, only a small number of studies have focused on recollection. We highlight a set of methodological issues that should be considered for future research, including sample size, control condition used, and critical measures of memory and other domains. We conclude by suggesting that research should focus on the theory-driven measure of efficacy described in this review, so that lifelogging technologies can contribute to memory rehabilitation in a meaningful and effective
OverviewAn issue of major importance for memory rehabilitation and cognitive neuroscientific theory is whether some new memory aid could retrieve memories that were otherwise inaccessible, or 'lost'. This issue has always been contentious in human memory research (e.g. Loftus & Loftus, 1980). To what extent it is possible to retrieve forgotten events is now of critical importance to the field, since a new technological challenge has arisen for memory researchers: can lifelogging technology act to aid the retrieval of autobiographical memories? (e.g. Doherty, Moulin, & Smeaton, 2011).Lifelogging is defined as the almost constant capture of data and images from our own life for future reference. In particular the neuropsychological community has become interested in wearable cameras, such as SenseCam. In this review, we focus on human memory, and recollection more specifically, to illustrate our view that memory may be rehabilitated by providing the right cues from life-logging style technologies. There are, of course, other research and clinical applications of life-logging devices. For instance, Gemming et al. (2013) showed that the use of a wearable camera facilitated the recall of dietary behaviours, thereby reducing the under-report of calorie intake. Here we focus on the examination of what is lost from memory, and whether digital materials could ever come close to providing the perfect memory aid. There is a fundamental point here: if we watch a stream of images from our past life, are we capable of remembering it all; will it all cue the retrieval of...
