What if everything you see, smell, hear, say and touch was recorded. Microsoft Research was founded in 1991 and has more than 700 people in more than 55 areas. Microsoft Research works very closely with many universities worldwide.
SenseCam - a small black box that captures images based on sensors that trigger the taking of pictures. Target is to have a device the size of a fifty-cent piece that captures data. The price point for this is fairly reasonable. Built from off the shelf components.
Storage needs are increasing. In todays storage terms the cost of storage for a lifetime is $10m today. In 10 years the cost of 10 peta bits of storage will likely be less than $10K for a lifetime of images. Moore's Law suggests that by 2019 a $1000 computer will match the computational power of the human brain.
Looking at a more managable solution today. "Stuff I've Seen" - supporting information re-use. Today there are many interfaces and many locations. With SIS - unified index, fast flexible search, immediate update, rich user interfaces. What the research has shown - short queries 1.6 words on average, most are about things that have happened recently (in last month). Personal search engine.
ZOE is similar for email but doesn't go beyond email
MemoryLens - attempt to harness model of human memory to assist with organizing a lifetime of information. Looking at taking the real world and making it navigable vs. making models with computer graphics.
Location for photos. World-Wide Media Exchange.
This is good but what about historical photographs or objects that do not have a well defined date or meta-data set. How should meta-data be created for these?
At some point with enough people you have a global view of what transpired in the world. Assumes there are people everywhere.
Meta Questions - who would regulate the recording of this kind of information? What does it mean for us as human beings? Memory is an important tool but forgetting is as well. There are things we want to forget, and the mistakes that we make but recover from. Imagine the vetting of political candidates in 15 years.