Have you ever wanted to step into an old memory? Well, now you can with Wist and its smartphone application that allows users to record and relive moments.
The new technology is very reminiscent of the popular Netflix show Black Mirror and The Entire History of You episode. You know, the one where people can record every second of their lives via a memory implant that records everything you see and hear.
While the concept sounds incredibly interesting, it’s also quite a scary one and if you know how the episode plays out, it may not always be such a good thing to have a rewind feature on all of our past moments. However, we aren’t quite at Black Mirror levels of technological evolution.
Relive a moment
The Wist application follows a similar concept by allowing a user to record a moment and then upload it to a virtual reality headset. The program is able to capture a moment and turn it into a fully realised 3D experience, meaning the user can relive and even interact with the memory.
Newer mobile phone models are needed as the app will use the sensors to capture 3D video information to turn into an immersive experience. It also captures depth information from a scene along with the video and audio. Users can access the memories using a VR headset such as the Quest 2 which also supports AR.
To make things even more interesting, the recording can be overlaid and played as an AR hologram over the original memory’s exact location.
Immersive Memories
Co-founder at Wist, Andrew McHugh stated that “Sometimes we try to capture these memories with photos or videos. These act as memory anchors, allowing us to travel back to those moments and the moments around the anchor. Photos and videos are great to look at, but they don’t give you the same experience as being there again.”
While many have quickly pointed out the resemblance to the Black Mirror episode, McHugh uses Harry Potter as an example saying the magical pensieve objects are a similar concept as they allow someone to look inside a memory.
While this technology is still in the early stages of development it is available to users, the website currently features a waitlist and is only available on iOS. Any videos taken are saved in 2D to your phone’s camera roll as well as creating a 3D version for Wist. Future updates hint that Wist will bring multiplayer experiences, so a memory can be shared in a VR space and new AI improvements intend to enhance old captures.
Wist’s VR memories can of course only create an experience from a memory that the user records, so while you won’t be able to use it to look back at where you left your car keys you can feel assured that we won’t be witnessing a real life episode of Black Mirror…Yet.
