Storing and recalling information to augment human memories

A computer-implemented method for facilitating later recall by a user of a prior state of an environment external to the user, the method comprising:

• storing information about a current state of the environment by,
• recording information from the environment with at least one input device of the computer;
• receiving an indication of a recall tag to assist in later retrieval of the recorded information from the environment, the indication received by an executing State Storage Module;
• receiving an indication of descriptive information about the environment the indication received by the State Storage Module;
• and
• associating the indicated recall tag and the indicated descriptive information with the recorded environment information, the associating performed under control of the State Storage Module,
• so that if the recall tag is later supplied, the recorded environment information and the descriptive information can be presented to augment the memory of the user of the state of the environment at the time of the storing.

A method in a computer for facilitating later recall by a user of a previous state, the method comprising:

• in response to each of a plurality of indications from the user, storing a group of information about a current state by,
• receiving from the user an indication of at least one input sensor of the computer,
• recording information about the current state with the indicated input sensors;
• receiving from the user an indication of a topic related to the current state to assist in later retrieval, the indication received by a State Storage Module of the computer;
• receiving from the user an indication of information describing the current state, the indication received by the State Storage Module;
• and
• associating the indicated topic and the indicated descriptive information with the recorded information, the associating performed under control of the State Storage Module;
• and
• indexing the stored groups of information in order to facilitate later retrieval of a stored group of information.

A method in a computer for facilitating later recall by a user of a previous state, the method comprising:

• monitoring the user to collect a group of information about a current state of the user;
• monitoring an environment of the user to collect a group of information about a current state of the environment;
• and
• without user intervention,
• determining based on the collected groups of information a level of user interest in at least one of the current state of the user and the current state of the environment, the determining performed by an executing User Modeling Module;
• and
• when the level of user interest in at least one of the current states is determined to exceed a threshold, storing information about at least one of the current states by,
• recording information about at least one of the current states with at least one input sensor of the computer;
• determining a topic related to the recorded information, the determining performed under control of an executing State Storage Module;
• and
• associating the determined topic with the recorded information, the associating performed under control of the State Storage Module,
• so that the stored information can later be presented to the user to assist the user in recalling the current states at the time of the recording.

A computer-implemented method for facilitating recall by a user of a previous state, the method comprising:

• storing information about a current state by,
• recording information from an environment external to the user with at least one input device of the computer;
• recording information from the user with at least one input device of the computer;
• receiving an indication of a recall tag related to the current state, the indicated recall tag to be used for later retrieval of the recorded environment information and the recorded user information, the indication received by an executing State Storage Module;
• and
• associating the indicated recall tag with the recorded environment information and the recorded user information, the associating performed under control of the State Storage Module,
• so that if the recall tag is later supplied, the recorded environment information and the recorded user information can be used to augment the memory of the user of the state at the time of the storing.

A method for assisting a user of a wearable computer in recalling a past state of the user, the wearable computer having a plurality of input devices, the method comprising;

• receiving a plurality of indications to store information about a current state;
• for each of the plurality of received indications, storing a state fragment by,
• recording sensed information about an environment external to the user from one of the input sensor devices,
• recording sensed information about the user from one of the input sensor devices;
• and
• associating the recorded environment information and the recorded user information as the stored state fragment, the associating performed under control of a State Storage Module of the wearable computer;
• and
• augmenting the memory of the user of a past state by,
• receiving an indication of a topic of interest to the user;
• identifying at least one stored state fragment having information related to the topic of interest, the identifying performed under control of a State Recall Module of the wearable computer;
• and
• presenting to the user the recorded environment information and the recorded user information associated with the identified state fragment.

A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computer to facilitate providing information to a user about an environment external to the user, by performing a method comprising:

• storing information about a current state of the environment by,
• recording information from the environment with at least one input device of the computer;
• receiving an indication of a recall tag related to the environment, the indication received by a State Storage Module of the computer;
• receiving an indication of descriptive information about the environment, the indication received by the State Storage Module;
• and
• associating the indicated recall tag and the indicated descriptive information with the recorded environment information, the associating performed under control of the State Storage Module,
• so that if the recall tag is later supplied, the recorded environment information and the descriptive information about the environment can be provided to the user.

A data structure stored in memory of a computer for use in facilitating recall by a user of a previous state of the user at a previous time, the data structure including a group of associated information that describes the previous state by comprising:

• stored information about an environment external to the user that was sensed by an input sensor device of the computer at the previous time;
• stored information from the user that was received by an input device of the computer at the previous time;
• and
• a recall tag from a State Storage Module for identifying the stored environment information and the stored user information that was received,
• so that if tile recall tag is supplied, the stored environment information and the stored user information can be provided to the user to facilitate recall of the previous state at the previous time.

A generated data signal transmitted via a data transmission medium, the generated data signal having encoded contents that cause a computing device to assist a user in recalling a previous state at a previous time, the encoded contents of the data signal including a group of associated information that describes the previous state by comprising:

• information about an environment external to the user that was sensed by an input sensor device of the computer at the previous time;
• information from the user that was received by an input device of the computer at the previous time;
• and
• a recall tag from a State Storage Module for identifying the environment information and the information from the user,
• so that if the recall tag is supplied, the environment information and the user information can be presented to the user to assist in recalling the previous state at the previous time.