Total recall: truth, memory and the trial of Oscar Pistorius

by Amanda Barnier, John Sutton, Misia Temler. Macquarie University.

Article in The Conversation

Kurnell location scout

Kurnell location scout (30/3/2014)

Flickr photo set

Things of interest: 

• Caltex refinery 
• James Cooks first landing site 
• Garbage dump 
• Boat Harbour coastal shack community
• driving on beach
• last Oyster farmer in Sydney
• Kurnell town with oil pipeline
• signs driving into Kurnell ("Welcome to the birthplace of modern australia" and "Kurnell progress committee" notice

map of location and photos

Guest Lecture Amanda Barnier, John Sutton. 26-3-2014

Assoc Professor Amanda Barnier
Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders and Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University Her research involves investigations of autobiographical remembering and forgetting, drawing on concepts and approaches from hypnosis and posthypnotic amnesia and from experimental and clinical work on memory.

Professor John Sutton
Deputy Director, Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University Interdisciplinary research in the humanities, philosophy and cognitive science. His work covers memory, skill, and distributed cognition, seeking to integrate philosophical, psychological, and historical ideas and methods.

Art Gallery of New South Wales - States of mind film series

When a film narrative unfolds in an unconventional way, it echoes the confusion we often experience trying to comprehend the real world. Unreliable memories, vivid imaginations and subjective emotions demand we must piece together disparate fragments in order to understand even our own story. In conjunction with the 19th Biennale of Sydney: You Imagine What You Desire, this series of films dramatises the vagaries of memory and time, and explores the dream-like worlds of fantasy and uncertainty that occur when a person gets trapped in their own mind.

Screened using 35mm film prints borrowed from local and international archives.

Wednesdays 2pm & 7.15pm, Sundays 2pm
12 March - 4 June 2014
Free

Full program:   http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/calendar/states-mind-film-series/

Amnesia and a Camera: Photos as Memories

After Claire Robertson lost 30 years of memories to a devastating brain infection, a new device called a Sensecam helps her keep new memories.

Testing terrain visualisation within Immersive Environment

Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller at Biennale of Sydney

The Biennale of Sydney has announced that the inaugural City of Sydney legacy artwork will be a specially commissioned twilight video walk around The Rocks.

Created by international artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, City of Forking Paths (2014) will be unveiled on 1 May 2014 as part of the 19th Biennale of Sydney.

Experienced on a smart phone or mobile device, City of Forking Paths leads people on a fictional journey through physical surrounds at dusk. Starting at Customs House in Circular Quay, the work weaves a trail through The Rocks. Users can download the app onto their personal devices from home or borrow a mobile device for free.

Biosensors and logging

The SenseWear device for the logging of:

• Motion: The Armband contains an accelerometer, a device that measures motion.
• Steps: The Armband counts your steps, using the accelerometer to measure the distinct patterns created by walking and/or running.
• Galvanic Skin Response: This measures the electrical conductivity of the skin, which changes in response to sweat and emotional stimuli.
• Skin Temperature: A sensitive electronic thermometer measures the temperature of the skin.
• Heat Flux: Measures the amount of heat dissipating from the body.

NeuroSky MindWave

• The MindWave headset turns your computer into a brain activity monitor. The headset safely measures brainwave signals and monitors the attention levels of individuals as they interact with math, memory and pattern recognition applications. 

Artist Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller will be at Sydney Biennale
http://www.biennaleofsydney.com.au/19bos/artists/cardiff-miller/

Reading

Theoretical:

• Martin A. Conway. Memory and the self. Journal of Memory and Language, 2005.
• Martin A. Conway. Autobiographical Memory and Consciousness. Encyclopedia of Consciousness, 2009.
• Kourken Michaelian, John Sutton. Distributed Cognition and Memory Research: History and Current Directions. Rev.Phil.Psych. 2013 4:1-24
• Edward S. Casey. Remembering : a phenomenological study. 2000. Chapter 9, Place Memory, p.181-215.
• Charles Fernyhough. Pieces of light : how the new science of memory illuminates the stories we tell about our pasts. Page 147-172 Clair's story.
• Daniel L. Schacter. Searching for memory : the brain, the mind, and the past. An accessible book from a psych pov that attempts to weave in art. COFA CFA 153.12/9
• Stefanucci Jeanine, Augmenting Context-Dependent Memory. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, 2007.
• J. Sutton, The Feel of the World: exograms, habits, and the confusion of types of memory', in Andrew Kania (ed), Memento: philosophers on film (Routledge, 2009), 65-86. 
• Observer perspective and acentred memory: some puzzles about point of view in personal memory. John Sutton. Published online: 23 January 2010, Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Sensecam:

• SenseCam: A wearable camera that stimulates and rehabilitates autobiographical memory. Steve Hodges, Emma Berry, Ken Wood. Memory Journal, 14 Oct 2011.
• Using SenseCam with an amnesic patient: Accessing inaccessible everyday memories. Catherine Loveday, Martin A. Conway. Memory Journal, Oct 2011.
• AffectCam: Arousal–Augmented SenseCam for Richer Recall of Episodic Memories. Corina Sas et. al., CHI 2013.
• Automatically assisting human memory: A SenseCam browser. Aiden R. Doherty a , Chris J. A. Moulin b & Alan F. Smeaton. Memory Journal, 2010.
• Beyond total capture: a constructive critique of Lifelogging. Abigail SeLLen and Steve Whittaker.

Artistic references

A few videos in youtube playlist format (see below)

Kerry Tribe. Dead Star Light 2007 multi channel video installation

Harun Farocki, Deep Play 2017 video installation (video in playlist above)

Janet Cardiff's site specific sound installations.  (video in playlist above)

Kan Xuan, Millet Mounds (video in playlist above)

Omer Fast (video in playlist above)

David Clegg, 'Trebus Project': 

an artist-led project researching dementia stories. Not a media project but conceptually interesting. 

http://www.trebusprojects.org/

David Clegg, ‘An Occasional Cobra / Room 21’:

The researcher/artist interviews 3 people who lived in the same room in a care home one after the other. Despite never meeting their stories show similarities--apparently because elements are related the architecture of the room (which is above a laundry which can be heard at night, thus cuing memories of running water etc).

http://www.trebusprojects.org/an-occasional-cobra

Testing terrain visualisation

(click on thumbnail images for larger images)
Sydney cove visualised as a course mesh. CBD, harbour bridge and opera house:

Sydney cove visualised as a course point-cloud. CBD, harbour bridge and opera house.

Video references and lectures

The Kids with no Memory, Channel 5, 2013.

Peter Doolittle: How your working memory makes sense of the world. TED.
http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_doolittle_how_your_working_memory_makes_sense_of_the_world.html


Elizabeth Loftus: What's the Matter with Memory?
http://fora.tv/2009/07/14/Elizabeth_Loftus_Whats_the_Matter_with_Memory

Neuroscience & Memory references

Representing place : landscape painting and maps. Edward S. Casey. 2002.
Remembering : a phenomenological study. Edward S. Casey. 2000.

Human Memory, good introduction
http://www.human-memory.net/types.html

Types of Human Memory: Diagram by Luke Mastin

How Many of Your Memories Are Fake? The Atlantic.
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/11/how-many-of-your-memories-are-fake/281558/

Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience/Memory
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cognitive_Psychology_and_Cognitive_Neuroscience/Memory

Implicit Memory in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder With Amnesia for the Traumatic Event
http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=99874

Memory Lecture Series
http://www.exploratorium.edu/memory/lectures.html

Scientists debate the neurobiological underpinnings of amnesia
http://learnmem.cshlp.org/site/misc/AmnesiaRelease.xhtml

Wikipedia
Episodic memory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episodic_memory
Declarative memory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declarative_memory
Implicit memory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_memory
Procedural memory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_memory
Semantic memory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_memory
Amnesia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesia

Google Books Memory, Amnesia, and the Hippocampal System
http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0nAfZGLlQh4C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=memory+amnesia+neuroscience&ots=xUMbYp2Ijz&sig=Plhp_-bbHESXl-NF2EIaOxT5kT0#v=onepage&q=memory%20amnesia%20neuroscience&f=false

Book Episodic memory, semantic memory, and amnesia
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/(SICI)1098-1063(1998)8:3%3C205::AID-HIPO3%3E3.0.CO;2-I/abstract

Cinema - Film references

Spellbound, 1945, Suspense, 150 min, Alfred Hitchcock
A handsome young doctor, "Dr. Edwards" (Gregory Peck), arrives to assume directorship of Green Manors psychiatric hospital, only to be revealed as a fraud using the assumed identity of a murdered man. Psychoanalyst Dr. Constance Peterson (Ingrid Bergman) is convinced that he's not a murderer ("We'll look at some sane trees, normal grass and clouds without complexes"), and seeks to help him regain his memory with the aid of her former professor and Freudian analyst, Dr. Brulov (Michael Chekhov - "Good night and happy dreams which we will analyze at breakfast."). The patient recounts a dream sequence (designed by Salvador Dali), which Drs. Peterson and Brulov decode to discover his true identity as well as the truth behind the disappearance of the real Dr. Edwards. Velvety shadows a la Hitchcock and Oscar winning musical score by Miklos Rozsa enhance every moment. Excellent in every way - acting, directing, suspense - this movie is sure to hold all its viewers spellbound.

Clean Slate, 1994, Comedy, 106 min, Mick Jackson
Following an explosion, private detective Maurice Pogue (Dana Carvey) has lost his memory. He can't remember anything before the accident or anything afterwards for more than a day at a time - in other words, whenever he wakes up, it's a brand new life. To remind himself of important information and whom he can trust, he makes notes to himself on a mini tape recorder and little slips of paper. To make matters worse, he's got to testify against the bad guys in court in a few days, but who can he trust?
Compare with Memento: type and reliability of note-keeping - how do they resolve conflicting information

Memento, 2000, Thriller, 113 min, Christopher Nolan
Following a brutal attack in which his wife was killed and he was injured, a severely amnesic man (Guy Pearce) resolves to track down his wife's killer. However, the attack has left him unable to form new memories, so he ritually takes polaroid pictures, writes notes and even tattooes himself with information pertinent to his investigation. The film tells the story in backwards fragments, starting at the end. Also, your assessment of the characters and their motives shifts with each new revelation. This film will generate PLENTY of discussion.

Regarding Henry, 1991, 108 min, Mike Nichols
Henry Turner is a despicable and ruthless trial lawyer whose life is turned upside down when he is shot in the head during a robbery. He survives the injury with significant brain damage and must re-learn how to speak, walk, and function normally. He has also lost most of the memory of his personal life, and must adjust to life with the family that he does not remember. To the surprise of his wife and daughter, Henry becomes a loving and affectionate man.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, 108 min, Michel Gondry
A couple undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories when their relationship turns sour, but it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with

NIEA - iCinema Lab

NIEA - iCinema Lab
An experimental interdisciplinary laboratory that undertakes research, teaching and exhibition in the fields of immersive environments, physical and virtual interactivity and networked collaboration. The laboratory will be articulated to the research, teaching and exhibition programs at following UNSW Faculties: COFA, Engineering, FASS and Science. It will be networked with the iData Lab at UTS, the 3D Digital Cinema Lab at University of Art and Design, Karlsruhe, and ALIVE Centre at City U Hong Kong. Research undertaken is programmatically focused on preliminary studies for development of competitive grant applications. Teaching will be programmatically focused on interdisciplinary content spanning creative arts and technology. Exhibitions will be programmatically focused on the outcomes of the research and teaching.

Aims
Research, Teaching and Exhibition Program in following areas:

• Immersive visualisation for imaging and modeling using video and CGI
• Interactive aesthetics for narrative interaction using physical and virtual agents
• Networked collaboration for narrative authoring using human and machine participants

Staffing
Director: Prof Jill Bennet, Prof Dennis Del Favero
Program Director: Volker Kuchelmeister
Program Director: Karen Kriss
Program Director: Prof Claude Sammut

Location
ID Gallery College of Fine Arts

Other Lifelogging Cameras

meMINI
http://memini.com/
slightly different concept, not available jet

The Narrative Memotot
http://getnarrative.com/

Vicon Revue
Original Sensecam, a bit outdated today
http://viconrevue.com/product.html

Reference videos Sensecam

Wiped Clean - ninemsm 60 minutes
http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8222628


Microsoft Research, hear what the researchers and clinicians who use SenseCam have to say about their work.
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/cambridge/projects/sensecam/video.htm


Cathal Gurrin, life-logger, A search engine for the self
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2013/11/cathal-gurrin-life-logger


SenseCam human memory enhancement on BBC2 TV Eyewitness
http://www.youtube.com/embed/YAi2X6qf-4w?feature=player_detailpage



Amnesia and a Camera: Photos as Memories on Time.com
http://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,621819372001_2022901,00.html



SenseCam James May BBC Big Ideas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Moxqfeg8daI&gl=GB&hl=en-GB



Personal Digital Archiving-Cathal Gurrin and Aiden Doherty
https://archive.org/details/PDA2011-cathalgurrin-aidendoherty



Kitty Ireland: Grandma was a Lifelogger
http://quantifiedself.com/lifelogging/



Total Recall, How the e-memory revolution changed everything
http://totalrecallbook.com/videos/

Sensecam studies references

UC San Diego to Host International SenseCam Symposium Nov. 18-19 2013
http://sensecam.ucsd.edu/02-08-13.php

USCD Sensecam Studies
http://sensecam.ucsd.edu/studies.php

Microsoft Research Sensec am page
http://research.microsoft.com/EN-US/UM/CAMBRIDGE/PROJECTS/SENSECAM/default.htm
Publications: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/cambridge/projects/sensecam/publications.htm

Recovering Memory: Can a New Device Help Amnesia Patients? - TIME
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2022652,00.html#ixzz2pfjIfo5a

Data

Example of data captured by autographer, imported into Google Fusion Tables.
Fusion tables are a great way of sharing and formatting data. It has built in map support for geo locating (GPS longitude, latitude) data sets:

https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=1Xl4USytMykokKAjZIkePc9cvgkD9IEsKbEWaleE

3D visualisation

(click on thumbnail images for larger images)
Test using Unity 3D to visualise imagery captured by the Authographer in 3D space.
GPS location is used (if available), altitude and orientation from the accelerometer and compass.

Autographer Life Logging Camera

Autographer Life Logging Camera

Marketing blurb from Autographer.com:
Autographer is a new type of camera which has been custom built to enable spontaneous, hands-free image capture. Its world leading technology includes a custom 136° eye view lens, an ultra small GPS unit and 5 in-built sensors.
These sensors are fused by a sophisticated algorithm to tell the camera exactly the right moments to take photos. You've never met a camera like this before.  





Features:

• 8GB internal memory 
• 5 on board sensors + GPS (ambient light / accelerometer / magnetometer / PIR / temperature) 
• Bluetooth 
• 136º field of view, Glass hybrid wide angle optics, fixed focus 
• 5MPx low light sensor 
• Dedicated smartphone and desktop app. view, tag and share the images. 
• Weight: 58g, Width 37.4mm, Length 95.5mm, Thickness 22.93mm  

My first impressions of the device:

• image quality is ok, fisheye distortion due to wide field of view (~130 degree) 
• GPS takes a looong time to lock on, and only so in the open without too many buildings in the way. Pretty unreliable. 
• battery life limted, with GPS on and high capture frequency, maybe half a day.
• the device determines when images are captured, dependent on settings (high, med, low) and sensor readings. Not clear jet how this algorithm works.
• Smartphone and desktop app seem fine to manage and preview the images and sensor data
• Images and sensor metadata is stored within the camera memory in easy to use formats (JPEG and CSV data)

Autographer Apps
For Windows, Mac OS and iOS (no Android jet)
Download at http://support.autographer.com/latest-downloads/

The Amnesia Project

The Amnesia Project

Presented by NIEA (National Institute of Experimental Arts) and the iCinema Centre for Interactive Cinema Research, this Special Project class at the College of Fine Arts  The Amnesia Project  is a unique opportunity for students to work on a large-scale international and interdisciplinary research project, bridging science and the arts. The outcome will take the form of an interactive and immersive video installation, utilising state of the art data visualisation, Artificial Intelligence and presentation technologies, and focusing on the theme of memory and amnesia.
Students will creatively engage in field and lab research, data collection, image capture, design, programming  and visualisation tasks. The learning outcomes will include conceptual, research and technical skills, insight into interactive visualisation systems and the experience of working in an interdisciplinary team, led by experts in the field.
The course is open to students from all art, media, design and engineering backgrounds as the project requires a range of diverse discipline skills (including curatorial, design, media, photographic, videographic, performative, programming and theoretical).

The Amnesia Project is part of an international research collaboration supported by the Wellcome Trust, led by artist Shona Illingworth and a team of neuropsychologists in the UK, and by Professor Jill Bennett in Australia, investigating memory formation and forgetting in relation to technology.
The Amnesia Project installation, directed by Jill Bennett, Dennis Del Favero and Volker Kuchelmeister, will be exhibited in the NIEA labs/galleries in 2014.

Download flyer in PDF format