July 28, 2002

6:56 PM

Intimate Media.As computers steadily move into every aspect of personal life, MiME proposes that instead of allowing intimate media to disappear into the computer, artifacts and systems should be designed to better promote human experiences around the collection, storage and sharing of intimate media. Interesting research by Philips. How will you share your personal artifacts in the future?
posted by hockeyman (8 comments total)

Don't they know that people hate Mimes?
posted by srboisvert at 7:37 PM on July 28, 2002

I was reading it as 'me, me'. Like being self-centered. :)
posted by hockeyman at 7:44 PM on July 28, 2002

hockeyman, could you give us some examples? This looks interesting but I'm having trouble getting it.

Before photographs, I think there was more of an emphasis on keepsakes, like locks of hair and all that. Is the question what will these be in the future? Can a digital image ever feel warm and personal? What will your great-grandchildren be storing in their virtual attic trunks?
posted by vacapinta at 7:50 PM on July 28, 2002

Vac - Here are examples:

Living Scrapbook - my favorite
Picture Ball, Glowtags, Lonely Planet Listener.

It's cool when you see the outcomes of corporate "skunkworks" projects like these. There are a lot of cool jobs out there, and I think that many of them are at Microsoft Research, Xerox Parc, etc.
posted by zpousman at 8:07 PM on July 28, 2002

I think we certainly are going to need ways to store and organize media like photos, movies, songs, etc. It already seems fairly clear to me which way those kinds of things are going.

Obviously, there's room for innovation, but most of these concepts just seem a bit needlessly complex to me. I think if we can bring the cost of displays down then some of the digital picture frames will become more popular. Still, I suspect they're going to have to become smaller and less complex. I don't think they're going to become self-contained scanners or the like. I'm not sure I even understand the appeal of the Lonely Planet Listener. Are the sounds of a place divorced from the video interesting? Wouldn't you rather just tape it rather then keep track of special codes so you can dial in to it live in real time?

And did anybody else take a look at the storyboard for the Picture Ball? What was that last scene all about? Is there some kind of adult toy built into the thing or what?
posted by willnot at 8:29 PM on July 28, 2002

Huh, I'm surprised you guys aren't super enthusiastic about this stuff! Personally, I would love to have all of these products . . . . They are all evocative, and all beautiful ideas. The Listener seems the least practical; but the Glow Tags seem like the most interesting, and seem like something that would provide a genuine, intimate, emotional value . . . . I would be tremendously psyched if we could see technology like that at work in the next decade. I have a wireless network in the house, why not have some Glow Tags?

If you haven't visited the site yet you ought to, it's cool. Good post.
posted by josh at 11:03 PM on July 28, 2002

I'm more interested in the experiences that lead to the creation of the "intimate media", and then in the technologies that ensure safe archival.

What's this "share" thing?

Kidding. Of course I share, I have a blog.

I used to have an on-line photo album, but it got bought out, then the place that bought it out got bought out. Also, there was a fault in the service that lost a bunch of my uploads. I don't think it exists anywhere anymore.
posted by krisjohn at 11:47 PM on July 28, 2002

I find these products exciting. My life is so fast its hard to sit back and enjoy being a member of a family or just being myself. I love the idea of lil glow whatchamacallits glowing on my birthday reminding me of all the people who love me. Just imagine, how many birthdays have you spent being lazy and sadistic.

Maybe you havent. Then you are weird :S
posted by adnanbwp at 8:22 AM on July 29, 2002