Memory, Legacy & Mixed Reality
Over the weekend, our team conducted interviews with stakeholders we could get ahold of and explored the domain of memory & legacy through our conversations. Some of our takeaways from the weekend:
- Grandparents and older generations can remember moments from the younger generations’ lives, and often with very vivid details
- One of our research participants is currently traveling through Thailand, and we have asked her to send us 1 photo + answer some quick questions about her memories of the day. This process is still ongoing.
- Facebook vs. Snapchat? How is the camera dominating the way we share today? This article makes an interesting observation that Snapchat is positioned as a “camera” company, while Facebook is pivoting to “video-first”
- Individuals who share memories for a living (i.e. bloggers) approach the act of memory capture differently than the rest of us, especially in the way they perceive the realities portrayed, the techniques used, etc.
- What is the role of physical mementos and their relationship to legacies? We explored some physical manifestations of legacies through resources like the Museum of Broken Relationships, photobooks, and show & tell sessions with our interviewees.
Over the next few days, our team will:
- Conduct interviews with UPMC researchers working in the domain of Alzheimer’s, researchers at CMU’s Memory lab, some individuals from older generations
- Have participants walk us through some of their belongings (touchstone tours), as well as show & tell explorations of one participant’s photobook
- With time, a cultural probe with a diverse cohort of Pittsburghers
