Engineers are working on software to load every photo you take, every letter you write — in fact your every memory and experience— into a surrogate brain that never forgets anything, New Scientist can reveal. It is part of a curious venture dubbed the MyLifeBits project, in which engineers at Microsoft’s Media Presence lab in San Francisco are aiming to build multimedia databases that chronicle people’s life events and make them searchable. “Imagine being able to run a googly-like search on your life,”says Gordon Bell, one of the developers.
《新科學(xué)家》揭示：工程師正在研制一種軟件，它可加載你的每張相片和你寫的每封信—事實上，你的每一段回憶和經(jīng)歷都被放進一個永遠不會忘記任何事件的代理大腦里。它是一個被稱作“我的生活片段”奇特創(chuàng)業(yè)項目的一部分， 在這個項目中，舊金山的微軟媒體實驗室的工程師正致力于建立多媒體數(shù)據(jù)庫用來記錄人們生活事件而且便于人們查找?！跋胂衲隳軌虻梢暡榫磕阍?jīng)歷的生活，” 開發(fā)商之一Gordon Bell說。
The motivation? Microsoft argues that our memories often deceive us: experiences get exaggerated, we muddle the timing of events and simply forget stuff. Much better, says the firm, to junk such unreliable interpretations and instead build a faithful memory on that most reliable of entities, the PC.
研制該軟件的動機是什么? 微軟公司指出：我們的記憶時常欺騙我們，我們不但夸大經(jīng)歷，還搞錯事件發(fā)生的時間，而且完全忘記具體細節(jié)。公司說：有了這種軟件好多了，人們可以扔掉這類不可靠的解釋，改成在最可靠的實體—個人計算機上建立起忠實的記憶。
Bell and his colleagues developed MyLifeBits as a surrogate brain to solve what they call the “giant shoebox problem”.“In a giant shoebox full of photos, it’s hard to find what you are looking for,”says Microsoft’s Jim Gemmell. Add to this the reels of home movies, videotapes, bundles of letters and documents we file away, and remembering what we have, let alone finding it, becomes a major headache.
Bell和他的同事研制了“我的生活片段”軟件系統(tǒng)，把它作為代理大腦，用來解決他們稱作“龐大的鞋盒似的問題”.“在龐大的裝滿相片的鞋盒中，很難發(fā)現(xiàn)你想找的東西，”微軟的Jim Gemmell 說。加上我們一盤盤的家庭電影、錄像帶的膠片以及成捆的信件和文件，我們在尋找東西時費勁地回憶我們擁有的東西，不說能夠找到它，尋找東西的整個過程簡直變成了不小的一個麻煩。
Logging life記錄生活
By the time he speaks at December's Association for Computing Machinery Multimedia conference in Juan Les Pins, France, Bell says he will have logged everything he possibly can onto his MyLifeBits database.
到十二月Bell在法國Juan Les Pins召開計算機多媒體會議上發(fā)言時， 他說他將盡可能把每件事記錄在"我的生活片段"數(shù)據(jù)庫上。
Apart from official documents like his passport, he will post everything from letters and photos to home videos and work documents. All his email is automatically saved on the system, as is anything he reads or buys online. He has also started recording phone conversations and meetings to store as audio files. The privacy and corporate security risks are clear.
除了像他的護照這樣官方文件之外, 他將會把從信和照片到家庭錄像帶及工作文件都記載在數(shù)據(jù)庫上。他所有的電子郵件是自動存在系統(tǒng)里的, 一如他在線所讀過或所買過的東西也自動保留一樣。他還開始以音頻文件記錄電話談話和會議實況。顯然，這樣做容易暴露隱私和公司安全。
Of course the system takes up a huge amount of memory. But Bell's group calculates that within five years, a 1000-gigabyte hard drive will cost less than $300 - and that is enough to store four hours of video every day for a year.
當(dāng)然，系統(tǒng)占據(jù)了極大的儲存空間。 但是Bell的小組計算出：在五年之內(nèi), 一個 1000 個十億字節(jié)的硬盤將會花費不到300美元---而且一年內(nèi)那足夠每天儲存四個小時的圖像。
Each media file saved in MyLifeBits can be tagged with a written or spoken commentary and linked to other files. Spoken annotations are also converted into text, so the speech is searchable, too.
每個保存在"我的生活片段"中的媒體文件都會被貼上標簽或配上一段語音并且和其他文件連接。語音注解也被轉(zhuǎn)換成文本，因此這種演講也是可查尋的。
To recall a period in his past, Bell just types in the dates he is interested in. MyLifeBits then calls up a timeline of phone and email conversations, things he has read and any images he recorded. The system can also be used to build narratives involving other people, events or places. Searching for the name of a friend would bring together a chronological set of files describing when you both did things together, for instance.
要回憶過去的某一個生活時期,Bell僅僅鍵入一些他感興趣的日期。然后"我的生活片段"軟件就回憶起打電話、發(fā)郵件談話、讀過的文章以及錄像的畫面的時間表。系統(tǒng)還可以被用來記錄包括其他人、事件或地方的情況。例如，搜索朋友的名字會帶出一個按年代排的一套文件，這些文件描述你和朋友曾經(jīng)一起做過的事情。
Meet the ancestors與祖先會面
Although MyLifeBits is essentially a large database, it could gradually become a repository for many of our experiences. Now that many mobile devices contain photomessaging cameras, you could save everyday events onto the system. “Users will eventually be able to keep every document they read, every picture they view, all the audio they hear and a good portion of what they see,”says Gemmell.
盡管，“我的生活片段”軟件基本上就是一個龐大的數(shù)據(jù)庫，但是，它可能漸漸會變成為我們許多生活經(jīng)歷的儲存庫，既然移動產(chǎn)品有了攝像機，你可以把每天發(fā)生的事件儲存在該軟件系統(tǒng)中。“用戶將最終能夠把讀過的每一份文件，看過的每一張圖片，聽過的所有音頻信號以及看過的某一段華章錦句保存下來”。 Gemmell說道。
Bell believes that for some people, especially those with memory problems, MyLifeBits will become a surrogate memory that is able to recall past experiences in a way not possible with the familiar but disparate records like photo albums and scrapbooks. “You'll begin to rely on it more and more,”he believes.
Bell認為對一些人，特別是記憶有問題的人來說，“我的生活片段”軟件將成為代替的記憶，它能夠回憶過去的生活經(jīng)歷，而該軟件的記憶功能是照片簿和剪貼簿這些我們熟悉但零散的紀錄方式所無法相比的?！澳銜_始越來越依賴它，”他認為。
A really accurate, searchable store of events could also help us preserve our experiences more vividly for posterity. Doug de Groot, who works on computer-generated beings called avatars and other types of digital “l(fā)ife” at Leiden University in the Netherlands, says Bell’s system could eventually form the basis for “meet the ancestor” style educational tools, where people will quiz their ancestors on what happened in their lifetimes.
一種真正準確的，日后又便于查找的事件儲存還可以為我們的子孫后代更鮮明生動地保存我們的生活經(jīng)歷。Doug de Groot,在荷蘭來頓大學(xué)從事計算機產(chǎn)生人的研究，該項研究被稱作“人的化身和其他數(shù)字化‘生活’”，他說Bell的系統(tǒng)可以最后為 “與祖先會面”教育性工具建立基礎(chǔ)，人們可以用它考查他們祖先的一生曾經(jīng)發(fā)生過什么。
A system like MyLifeBits was first suggested in 1945, when presidential technology adviser Vannevar Bush hatched the then farsighted idea of an infinite personal archive based on the emerging digital computer. His ideas also inspired the Internet archive website."
我的生活片段"軟件系統(tǒng)是在1945年首次被提出， 屆時負責(zé)的技術(shù)顧問Vannevar Bush策劃了這個在當(dāng)時具有遠見的主意--用數(shù)字電腦創(chuàng)建無限私人檔案。他的主意也啟發(fā)了英特網(wǎng)文檔網(wǎng)站。
《新科學(xué)家》揭示：工程師正在研制一種軟件，它可加載你的每張相片和你寫的每封信—事實上，你的每一段回憶和經(jīng)歷都被放進一個永遠不會忘記任何事件的代理大腦里。它是一個被稱作“我的生活片段”奇特創(chuàng)業(yè)項目的一部分， 在這個項目中，舊金山的微軟媒體實驗室的工程師正致力于建立多媒體數(shù)據(jù)庫用來記錄人們生活事件而且便于人們查找?！跋胂衲隳軌虻梢暡榫磕阍?jīng)歷的生活，” 開發(fā)商之一Gordon Bell說。
The motivation? Microsoft argues that our memories often deceive us: experiences get exaggerated, we muddle the timing of events and simply forget stuff. Much better, says the firm, to junk such unreliable interpretations and instead build a faithful memory on that most reliable of entities, the PC.
研制該軟件的動機是什么? 微軟公司指出：我們的記憶時常欺騙我們，我們不但夸大經(jīng)歷，還搞錯事件發(fā)生的時間，而且完全忘記具體細節(jié)。公司說：有了這種軟件好多了，人們可以扔掉這類不可靠的解釋，改成在最可靠的實體—個人計算機上建立起忠實的記憶。
Bell and his colleagues developed MyLifeBits as a surrogate brain to solve what they call the “giant shoebox problem”.“In a giant shoebox full of photos, it’s hard to find what you are looking for,”says Microsoft’s Jim Gemmell. Add to this the reels of home movies, videotapes, bundles of letters and documents we file away, and remembering what we have, let alone finding it, becomes a major headache.
Bell和他的同事研制了“我的生活片段”軟件系統(tǒng)，把它作為代理大腦，用來解決他們稱作“龐大的鞋盒似的問題”.“在龐大的裝滿相片的鞋盒中，很難發(fā)現(xiàn)你想找的東西，”微軟的Jim Gemmell 說。加上我們一盤盤的家庭電影、錄像帶的膠片以及成捆的信件和文件，我們在尋找東西時費勁地回憶我們擁有的東西，不說能夠找到它，尋找東西的整個過程簡直變成了不小的一個麻煩。
Logging life記錄生活
By the time he speaks at December's Association for Computing Machinery Multimedia conference in Juan Les Pins, France, Bell says he will have logged everything he possibly can onto his MyLifeBits database.
到十二月Bell在法國Juan Les Pins召開計算機多媒體會議上發(fā)言時， 他說他將盡可能把每件事記錄在"我的生活片段"數(shù)據(jù)庫上。
Apart from official documents like his passport, he will post everything from letters and photos to home videos and work documents. All his email is automatically saved on the system, as is anything he reads or buys online. He has also started recording phone conversations and meetings to store as audio files. The privacy and corporate security risks are clear.
除了像他的護照這樣官方文件之外, 他將會把從信和照片到家庭錄像帶及工作文件都記載在數(shù)據(jù)庫上。他所有的電子郵件是自動存在系統(tǒng)里的, 一如他在線所讀過或所買過的東西也自動保留一樣。他還開始以音頻文件記錄電話談話和會議實況。顯然，這樣做容易暴露隱私和公司安全。
Of course the system takes up a huge amount of memory. But Bell's group calculates that within five years, a 1000-gigabyte hard drive will cost less than $300 - and that is enough to store four hours of video every day for a year.
當(dāng)然，系統(tǒng)占據(jù)了極大的儲存空間。 但是Bell的小組計算出：在五年之內(nèi), 一個 1000 個十億字節(jié)的硬盤將會花費不到300美元---而且一年內(nèi)那足夠每天儲存四個小時的圖像。
Each media file saved in MyLifeBits can be tagged with a written or spoken commentary and linked to other files. Spoken annotations are also converted into text, so the speech is searchable, too.
每個保存在"我的生活片段"中的媒體文件都會被貼上標簽或配上一段語音并且和其他文件連接。語音注解也被轉(zhuǎn)換成文本，因此這種演講也是可查尋的。
To recall a period in his past, Bell just types in the dates he is interested in. MyLifeBits then calls up a timeline of phone and email conversations, things he has read and any images he recorded. The system can also be used to build narratives involving other people, events or places. Searching for the name of a friend would bring together a chronological set of files describing when you both did things together, for instance.
要回憶過去的某一個生活時期,Bell僅僅鍵入一些他感興趣的日期。然后"我的生活片段"軟件就回憶起打電話、發(fā)郵件談話、讀過的文章以及錄像的畫面的時間表。系統(tǒng)還可以被用來記錄包括其他人、事件或地方的情況。例如，搜索朋友的名字會帶出一個按年代排的一套文件，這些文件描述你和朋友曾經(jīng)一起做過的事情。
Meet the ancestors與祖先會面
Although MyLifeBits is essentially a large database, it could gradually become a repository for many of our experiences. Now that many mobile devices contain photomessaging cameras, you could save everyday events onto the system. “Users will eventually be able to keep every document they read, every picture they view, all the audio they hear and a good portion of what they see,”says Gemmell.
盡管，“我的生活片段”軟件基本上就是一個龐大的數(shù)據(jù)庫，但是，它可能漸漸會變成為我們許多生活經(jīng)歷的儲存庫，既然移動產(chǎn)品有了攝像機，你可以把每天發(fā)生的事件儲存在該軟件系統(tǒng)中。“用戶將最終能夠把讀過的每一份文件，看過的每一張圖片，聽過的所有音頻信號以及看過的某一段華章錦句保存下來”。 Gemmell說道。
Bell believes that for some people, especially those with memory problems, MyLifeBits will become a surrogate memory that is able to recall past experiences in a way not possible with the familiar but disparate records like photo albums and scrapbooks. “You'll begin to rely on it more and more,”he believes.
Bell認為對一些人，特別是記憶有問題的人來說，“我的生活片段”軟件將成為代替的記憶，它能夠回憶過去的生活經(jīng)歷，而該軟件的記憶功能是照片簿和剪貼簿這些我們熟悉但零散的紀錄方式所無法相比的?！澳銜_始越來越依賴它，”他認為。
A really accurate, searchable store of events could also help us preserve our experiences more vividly for posterity. Doug de Groot, who works on computer-generated beings called avatars and other types of digital “l(fā)ife” at Leiden University in the Netherlands, says Bell’s system could eventually form the basis for “meet the ancestor” style educational tools, where people will quiz their ancestors on what happened in their lifetimes.
一種真正準確的，日后又便于查找的事件儲存還可以為我們的子孫后代更鮮明生動地保存我們的生活經(jīng)歷。Doug de Groot,在荷蘭來頓大學(xué)從事計算機產(chǎn)生人的研究，該項研究被稱作“人的化身和其他數(shù)字化‘生活’”，他說Bell的系統(tǒng)可以最后為 “與祖先會面”教育性工具建立基礎(chǔ)，人們可以用它考查他們祖先的一生曾經(jīng)發(fā)生過什么。
A system like MyLifeBits was first suggested in 1945, when presidential technology adviser Vannevar Bush hatched the then farsighted idea of an infinite personal archive based on the emerging digital computer. His ideas also inspired the Internet archive website."
我的生活片段"軟件系統(tǒng)是在1945年首次被提出， 屆時負責(zé)的技術(shù)顧問Vannevar Bush策劃了這個在當(dāng)時具有遠見的主意--用數(shù)字電腦創(chuàng)建無限私人檔案。他的主意也啟發(fā)了英特網(wǎng)文檔網(wǎng)站。