Jac Higgins / Interaction Design

multi-sensory memorabilia:
new ways for visually impaired people to save and share personal memories

Imagine if you could no longer see the photographs you'd taken.

The visual imagery of photograph albums dominates the way most of us store and share personal memories. But what about the memorabilia needs of people who are visually impaired? How can they capture and access memories when they have either been blind from birth or have lost their sight through illness or ageing?

Jac Higgins, a 2002 Interaction Design graduate of the Royal College of Art, believes there should be a fresh, multi-sensory approach to 'memory triggers'.

She is investigating this issue as a Research Associate in collaboration with HP Labs, the research arm of global technology company Hewlett-Packard. According to David Frohlich of HP Labs, who is Visiting Industrial Fellow in the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre, the study aims to take the use of assistive technology for visually impaired people in a new direction.

Quality of life

"Most technology for visually impaired people has been directed towards helping them to navigate their environment, cook, eat and read so that they might achieve an 'ordinary' level of independent living," says Frohlich. "But this project investigates whether technology might also be deployed for less practical and more poetic purposes, to enhance quality of life."

By working closely with a lead user group of visually impaired people, the study developed two distinct design scenarios: first, ways in which congenitally blind people can collect and save memories independently of vision; and second, ways in which those who have lost their sight can access memories they once captured visually.

Concepts using sound, smell, scale, touch and taste as sensory memory triggers were developed for user testing, via memory-indulging rituals, such as rummaging through the attic or talking over a cup of tea.

Three of these concepts were then taken to a working prototype level.

Memory shelf

Memory shelf creates a database of personal memorabilia artefacts in the home. Items placed on the memory shelf are identified by weight. Audio memories recorded by the owner are attached to memorabilia artefacts. The placing of these objects on the memory shelf in the future plays back these pre-recorded audio memories. Memory shelf builds an audio history of memorabilia items in the home.

Memory china

Memory china captures conversation around the dinner table. The concept consists of a teapot that records the conversations around it into the teapot lid. The teapot allows the playback of these memories at a future date by turning the teapot lid through 180 degrees and pouring a cup of tea. The audio is played back and amplified through the body of the teapot. Inspiration for memory china comes from the ritual of 'getting out the best china' for a special occasion; it is those special occasions that are memorable. Prototype models, based on a Wedgwood tea service, have been developed which demonstrate the capture and playback of 'best china' conversations.

Memory map

There are times when the whole day is memorable, more than a single snapshot of the day that a photograph captures. Memory map records the whole day as the memory: the places visited, the route taken. Each memory map is shown through a printed embossed route that can be read through touch. As well as indicating the route taken, the map also highlights geographical landmarks, distance travelled and even the speed of travel between places. The map provides an overview of the entire day or trip, creating a geographical memory trigger.

This project is to continue into a second year.

www.hijacdesign.com

research partner: Hewlett-Packard

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