A-me: augmented memories

Abstract

A-me is a fictitious memory-evoking apparatus at the intersection of science, art and technology. The system enables users to experience other people's memories as well as store their own by interacting with a volumetric representation (MR) of a human brain. The user retrieves or stores memories (audio traces) by pointing and clicking at precise voxels locations. Triggered by their exploratory action, a story is slowly revealed and recomposed in the form of whispering voices revealing intimate stories. A-me it's a public receptacle for private memories, thus exploring the possibility of a collective physical brain. The installation introduces an original optical see-through AR setup for neuronavigation capable of overlaying a volume rendered MR scan onto a physical dummy head. Implementing such a system also forced us to address technical questions on quality assessment of AR systems for brain visualization.