I remember watching the film about memory, and the one with the robots in the car, but for the life of me, I can’t remember the third video! My memory is unreliable; I do rely on technology to remember things – calendars / tasks. This week, I have been trialling a Livescribe Echo pen which has been recording meetings for me, word for word, but in a way that I can instantly access (remember) a particular part. Already I am missing the pen and my enhanced memory after having only used it for a few days. 

But in a few years time, we will be able to do so much more. Jason Sosa (2014, 7m50s) demonstrates that technology has now reached a point where our memories can be reconstructed, erased and/or implanted by artificial means; potentially useful in treatments for post traumatic stress, alzheimers or dementia. He also demonstrates images that have been reconstructed using MRI scans of brain activity – we can actually see what another person is experiencing / thinking. Imagine if we could record these on a memory stick? We would never have to take notes in a lecture / meeting again. We would have perfect recall.

This week has also introduced me to concepts new to me, transhumanism and posthumanism, and I am looking forward to examining these in more depth.  I am particularly fascinated by the ethical dilemmas surrounding the introduction of new technologies and how they are integrated into our society.

Spooky happenings – just published this blog and checked in on Twitter to find that Google have patented an AR device using some very odd gender stereotypes (O’Kane, 2015).

O’Kane, S. (2015) See the beautiful, nightmarish patent illustrations for a Google-funded augmented reality device. Available from: http://www.theverge.com/tldr/2015/1/17/7559473/google-magic-leap-patents-drawings [Accessed 18 January 2015].

Sosa, J. (2014) The coming transhuman era. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ugo2KEV2XQ#t=478 [Accessed 16 January 2015].