Got from Slashdot:

[www.hpl.hp.com]

Spontaneous, unguarded, fleeting — they’re often the moments in our lives we most want to photograph. But these moments are also those we frequently miss — gone before we could reach for a camera.

That’s the thought driving a research project called Casual Photography, now running at HP Labs Bristol, UK, where researchers are exploring what it would take to truly never miss a moment we’d like recorded for posterity.

Their answer — an experimental wearable camera that records everything we see — has led them to devise some neat gadgets and software solutions.

…but since we have to be nice about our competitors [8-)] I might also direct people’s attention from the sleekly designed HP page, to the more rough-n-ready device that my friends at MS Research Cambridge are now playing with:

[research.microsoft.com]

SenseCam is a badge-sized wearable camera that captures up to 2000 VGA images per day into 128Mbyte FLASH memory. In addition, sensor data such as movement, light level and temperature is recorded every second. This is similar to an aircraft Black Box accident recorder but miniaturised for the human body. It could help with memory recall, e.g. where did I leave my spectacles or keys? who did I meet last week? by doing a rewind of the days events. If a person has an accident, the events and images leading up to this will be recorded, and these could be useful to medical staff. It could also be used for automatic diary generation.

Sensors trigger a new recording. For example, each time the person walks into a new room, this light change is detected and the image is captured with an ultra wide angle or fish-eye lens. Other triggers include, time, sudden movement, or a person nearby. A hand gesture can also manually capture an image. An accelerometer is used for image stabilisation to reduce blurred images caused by camera motion. This is an essential feature of any truly wearable camera.

The sensor data (motion, light, temperature, and passive infrared) is recorded for later correlation with other user data, for example in the MyLifeBits system. Future versions will also capture audio and possibly heart rate or other physiological data.

The SenseCam is a research prototype and not a product yet. We have no spare prototypes at present.