Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Personal digital archives on mobile phones with MEO

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Personal and Ubiquitous Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The multimedia capabilities of mobile phones offer great potential for people to record experiences as digital resources for memories. However, there are a number of challenges around such systems relating to information overload and the effort to create order, the invisibility of digital resources, and supporting creativity and the (re)constructive nature of memory. In this article, we report on the media object (MEO), a design concept for a new file format and associated research prototypes, for advancing an understanding of how people wish to record experiences with mobile phones. The MEO concept defines a container structure that invites the user to populate it with rich media. We report on field evaluations featuring 10 participants using MEO applications up to 28 weeks and reflect on the lessons learnt with the media object by referring to the identified challenges. The findings point to issues around creative or deliberate engagement in planning and capturing resources for memories, the cost of doing so and the rewards for those efforts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. http://www.capv.com/main/public/Content/Press/2011/06.23.2011.html.

References

  1. Chaflen R (1987) Snapshot versions of life. Bowling Green State University Press, Bowling Green

    Google Scholar 

  2. Van House NA (2011) Personal photography, digital technologies and the uses of the visual. Vis Stud 26(2):125–134

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  3. Van Dijck J (2007) Mediated memories in the digital age. Stanford University Press, Stanford

    Google Scholar 

  4. Olsson T, Soronen H, Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila K (2008) User needs and design guidelines for mobile services for sharing digital life memories. In: Proceedings MobileHCI’08. ACM, Amsterdam, pp 273–282

  5. Whittaker S, Kalnikaité V, Petrelli D, Sellen A, Villar N, Bergman O, Clough P, Brockmeier J (2012) Socio-technical lifelogging: deriving design principles for a future proof digital past. Hum Comput Interact 27(1–2):37–62

    Google Scholar 

  6. Sellen A, Whittaker S (2010) Beyond total capture: a constructive critique of lifelogging. Commun ACM 53(5):70–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Bush V (1945) As we may think. Atl Mon 176(1):101–108

    Google Scholar 

  8. Gemmell J, Bell G, Lueder R (2006) MyLifeBits: a personal database for everything. Commun ACM 49(1):88–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kalnikaité V, Whittaker S (2011) A saunter down memory lane: digital reflection on personal mementos. Int J Hum Comput Stud 69(5):298–310. doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2010.12.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Bowen S, Petrelli D (2011) Remembering today tomorrow: exploring the human-centred design of digital mementos. Int J Hum-Comput Stud 69(5):324–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kirk DS, Izadi S, Sellen A, Taylor S, Banks R, Hilliges O (2010) Opening up the family archive. In Proceedings CSCW’10, Savannah, ACM, Georgia, pp 261–270

  12. Stevens MM, Abowd GD, Truong KN, Vollmer F (2003) Getting into the living memory box: family archives & holistic design. Personal Ubiquitous Comput 7:210–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Van den Hoven E, Eggen B (2008) Informing augmented memory system design through autobiographical memory theory. Personal Ubiquitous Comput 12(6):433–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. West D, Quigley A, Kay J (2007) MEMENTO: a digital-physical scrapbook for memory sharing. Personal Ubiquitous Comput 11(4):313–328. doi:10.1007/s00779-006-0090-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Petrelli D, van den Hoven E, Whittaker S (2009) Making history: intentional capture of future memories. In: Proceesings CHI’09, ACM, Boston, pp 1723–1732

  16. Güldenpfennig F, Reitberger W, Fitzpatrick G (2012) Capturing rich media through media objects on smartphones. In: Proceedings OzCHI’12, ACM, Melbourne, pp 180–183

  17. Churchill E, Ubois J (2008) Ps and Qs: designing for digital archives. Interactions 15(2):10–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Van House NA, Churchill EF (2008) Technologies of memory: key issues and critical perspectives. Mem Stud 1(3):295–310. doi:10.1177/1750698008093795

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Whittaker S, Bergman O, Clough P (2010) Easy on that trigger dad: a study of long term family photo retrieval. Personal Ubiquitous Comput 14:31–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Odom W, Sellen A, Harper R, Thereska E (2012) Lost in translation: understanding the possession of digital things in the cloud. In: Proceesings CHI’12, ACM, Austin, pp 781–790

  21. Golsteijn C, van den Hoven E, Frohlich D, Sellen A (2012) Towards a more cherishable digital object. In: Proceedings DIS’12, ACM, Newcastle Upon Tyne, pp 655–664

  22. Schacter D (1996) Searching for memory: the brain, the mind, and the past. Basic Books, NY

    Google Scholar 

  23. Braun V, Clarke V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol 3(2):77–101. doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Sengers P (2011) what I learned on change islands: reflections on IT and pace of life. Interactions 18(2):40–48. doi:10.1145/1925820.1925830

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank all of the participants for their time, effort, and valuable input. Also, we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their ideas and feedback on the draft version of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vienna University of Technology, Argentinierstraße 8, 1040, Vienna, Austria

    Florian Güldenpfennig & Geraldine Fitzpatrick

Authors
  1. Florian Güldenpfennig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Geraldine Fitzpatrick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Florian Güldenpfennig.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Güldenpfennig, F., Fitzpatrick, G. Personal digital archives on mobile phones with MEO. Pers Ubiquit Comput 19, 445–461 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-014-0802-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-014-0802-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation