Outcome

Intention

Our associative memory is used daily to recognize people, places, and things. As we get older, however, or as we meet more people and go to more places or see new things, our associative memory fades. Making new associations becomes harder, and can only be achieved reliably with repetition, or with some sort of memory aid. In a busy and constantly changing world, it can be hard to keep up with everyone we meet or everything we learn.

The result of integrating core principles of associative learning into this project should be a device that would tackle this problem by making visual aids for daily use, so we can remember who we met or what small task we learned to do more accurately and more reliably.

Prototype

My prototype is a design for an app that would allow people to record who they have met throughout the day using some fundamental concepts of associative memory. The app can record what words you might associate with the person you just met  in order to allow a more thorough recognition of each of these persons later. This app could also be used for remembering other small things, such as the name of an artist your friend just recommended.

It can be found here: https://invis.io/47ADR4A2R

Precedents

Associative memory

mental imagery increases pair-associate learning, visual associations are better than rote memorization. Words that evoke a strong mental imagery are easier to work with in order to remember small things.

Precedent 1:

http://what3words.com/about/

Precedent 2:

http://olafureliasson.net/archive/artwork/WEK100865/your-colour-memory

Process

My initial design focused on color rather than words. The earliest iteration proposed a small wooden machine with alphabet keys that uses ink to create blots in different colors based on which keys/letters/words are typed. This would all be registered on a sheet of notecard paper, creating a color collage, an immediate visual aid that could be associated with whichever name was used to type it into the machine.

The impracticality of this small, ink-filled machine led me to consider a digital version of this, where touches on a phone screen could create this collage in an app, retrievable later in association to the name stored with it. Color blots would vary in size and shape based on how hard your finger hit the screen.

My final iteration chose to allow the human attached to the device to do the visual work. By associating random words to each person they meet, they create a unique mental picture for each person they meet. Words such as "aloe emoji foot" creates a distinct image that can easily be related back to the knew acquaintance, especially if these words applied directly to the situation in which this person was met. The user types in related nouns to use as future reference in white on a black background in order to ensure that there is no distraction and that no words associated with the background will be typed in.

Open Questions and Challenges

What are the limits of what we should remember and what we should forget? Can practicality become invasive?

In the spirit of quantifying the self, how could this aid be used to gather data on what words you are most likely to remember?

Reflection

This project helped me get my bearings on what how I should approach these sorts of projects in the future. I purposefully came up with a prototype that I thought would be within my range of capabilities so I could physically develop the project rather than conceptually develop it. I realized, as I went along, that I could have done more theoretical work rather than focusing on producing a working prototype. Not worrying so much about what I could do would have allowed me to develop my idea further, in a more imaginative way.

As regards the project as it is, I thought it was interesting to see what everyone else in the class came up with. Some approaches were vastly different from others, and all seemed to start interesting and controversial conversations. Even if we ran out of time for my presentation, we managed to hit a few points I wanted to discuss in earlier conversations. It is very clear that the class is divided on the issue of what we should be able to forget. The line is drawn at various distances based on each individual's comfort level with the issue, and each person seems to have their own reasons for drawing the line there.

Attribution and References

Fertonani, Anna, Michela Brambilla, Maria Cotelli, and Carlo Miniussi. "The timing of cognitive plasticity in physiological aging: a tDCS study of naming." Frontiers in aging neuroscience 6 (2014): 131.

Johansena, Joshua P., Lorenzo Diaz-Mataixc, Hiroki Hamanakaa, Takaaki Ozawaa, Edgar Ycua, Jenny Koivumaaa, Ashwani Kumara et al. "Hebbian and neuromodulatory mechanisms interact to trigger associative memory formation.”

Touryan, Sharon R., Diane E. Marian, and Arthur P. Shimamura. "Effect of negative emotional pictures on associative memory for peripheral information." Memory 15, no. 2 (2007): 154-166.