{"id":563148,"date":"2019-03-28T03:37:13","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T10:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-project&p=563148"},"modified":"2021-05-11T05:43:40","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T12:43:40","slug":"memory-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"msr-project","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/project\/memory-dialogue\/","title":{"rendered":"Memory Dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t\t
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Exploring artefact-based memory sharing<\/h3>

People, with whom we spend time, become witnesses of our life. If two people share an experience, both keep their very own memory of this experience. These\u00a0memories are subjectively different \u2013 and yet, both are each other\u2019s mutual reassurance that this experience did actually happen. If the relationship ceases, for any\u00a0reason, the memories become isolated from one another. The reassurance disappears, and it may feel as if the event didn\u2019t take place. To preserve memories we have\u00a0to share them.<\/p>

This project aims to investigate the experience of artefact-based memory sharing, focussing on the multi-perspectiveness of different memories as a result of different\u00a0experiences on the same subject. Diverse pairs of people were asked to decide together on a specific experience they had together, then individually record their\u00a0memory in the form of an physical or digital artefact (something which could take whichever form they thought was most appropriate to the memory and the person\u00a0involved), share it, and reflect on their process of sharing. Participants were interviewed individually before exchanging their created artefact, then interviewed again\u00a0when face-to-face with the other participant.<\/p>

Questions of interest included: What experiences would people want to share with each other? Would potentially problematic memories be shared or mainly \u201cbeautiful\u201d\u00a0ones? How would they want to share their memories? What would it be like to create an artefact representing a memory, to be shared with the person one had the\u00a0original experience with?<\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

Shared Memory<\/h3>

The study combines Research through Design and Research for Design: it aims for a contribution to knowledge as well as the creation of unique design artefacts.\u00a0Initially, cultural probes were distributed to participants to introduce the topic and to initiate the process of recording and sharing a memory. Individual and shared\u00a0interviews resulted in a rich source of material for helping understand the memory sharing practices that participants engaged in. Photography has served as a research\u00a0tool, providing extended portraits of the subjects, and allowing to study the exchange of memory artefacts.<\/p>

Different aspects towards shared memories seem to be estimable and might emerge during the study:<\/p>

Range:\u00a0<\/strong>Some individuals might want to share memories only with themselves, others with a close friend, a group or a whole community.<\/p>

Multi-perspectivity:\u00a0<\/strong>As individuals have different experiences with a person or a situation, they also have different memories linked to that person or situation.<\/p>

Polysemy:<\/strong>\u00a0The same object might carry diverse meanings for different people, particularly in the context of artefact-based memory sharing as it is practiced in this study.<\/p>

Priority:<\/strong>\u00a0What is important to one person, might be less important to another person. Different people remember different details of an experience.<\/p>

Uncertainty:<\/strong>\u00a0The level of recall or confidence of subject\u2018s memory may vary.<\/p>

Enhancement:<\/strong>\u00a0Different individual memories may enhance each other\u2019s memory retrospectively. Details that subjects might have forgotten or misremembered would be\u00a0filled out through the process of sharing.<\/p>

Individuality:<\/strong>\u00a0Memories are personal and unique. They are specific towards a certain person, situation, or place.<\/p>

Release:<\/strong>\u00a0An artefact representing a memory may stay sealed for a certain time before it is opened; or it may be accessible only during certain times.<\/p>

Shift:<\/strong>\u00a0Perceptions of experiences may shift over time, for example due to changes in relationships between people.<\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

Insights<\/h3>

Participants did mostly choose positive memories, although two participants shared a memory with mixed feelings. Remarkably, all shared memories were described as\u00a0\u201cbonding experiences\u201d. Participants observed how their individual memories enhanced that of the other, and vice versa ( \u201cFor me it does fill in a logic of how we ended\u00a0up going to a restaurant that had only bad reviews.\u201d). Besides differences in details some participants had different focuses in their recollection. In one case, for\u00a0example, a participant didn\u2019t recall a dangerous situation that had occurred for both during the period of their shared memory, and the other commented: \u201cIn a way I think\u00a0it\u2019s really sweet that she doesn\u2019t remember the big dangerous moment, where we nearly died.\u201d<\/p>

Participants considered that creating their artefact required selectiveness, choosing what to include or not in terms of detail. One participant mentioned: \u201cIt\u2019s an\u00a0interesting concept, where I\u2019m remembering memories but in the context of another person\u2019s memory as well. So there is an influence there about the things I\u2019m\u00a0choosing to remember of creating some image of yourself.\u201d<\/p>

Participants were often surprised about how complimentary their artefacts were. In some cases the artefact would become more a conversation starter than a stand-alone record. This was especially the case when a physical object was created, as it was harder to \u201cread\u201d than a written document. These items are subtle in what they\u00a0imply about the shared memory and contain no inherent chronology about it. Compared to memoirs and diaries they are not composed linguistically and therefore not\u00a0directly readable by others. How a received artefact is interpreted, then, depends on many things, including the closeness of the relationship between participants or the\u00a0specificity of the chosen memory.<\/p>

Exploring artefact-based memory sharing led to reflect on many things, both general as well as specific. The process shown in \u201cMemory Dialogue\u201d might be valuable as\u00a0a tool for uncovering and reflecting different memories from multiple participants of the same experience. While it might set up tensions over things that had been\u00a0forgotten about or remembered differently, overall it can be a useful vehicle to share cherished memories, as well as those that are complex, tricky or buried.<\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

The future could see the project continue, expanding to explore further questions and extending to cover different relationships; within families for example. It may also\u00a0be interesting to explore a broader space for different form factors as well as how technology might influence the experience. How might a person\u2018s artefact combine\u00a0both physical and digital elements? Could it be portable, carried with the subject, as a mobile memory or should it be kept in a private place?<\/p>

Extracts of the work were presented as an exhibition at MSR Cambridge 2015.<\/p>

Download the full project booklet. (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/p>

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This project aims to investigate the experience of artefact-based memory sharing, focussing on the multi-perspectiveness of different memories as a result of different\u00a0experiences on the same subject. Diverse pairs of people were asked to decide together on a specific experience they had together, then individually record their\u00a0memory in the form of an physical or digital artefact, share it, and reflect on their process of sharing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":563154,"template":"","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"research-area":[13554],"msr-locale":[268875],"msr-impact-theme":[],"msr-pillar":[],"class_list":["post-563148","msr-project","type-msr-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","msr-research-area-human-computer-interaction","msr-locale-en_us","msr-archive-status-active"],"msr_project_start":"","related-publications":[215069],"related-downloads":[],"related-videos":[],"related-groups":[],"related-events":[],"related-opportunities":[],"related-posts":[],"related-articles":[],"tab-content":[],"slides":[{"attachment_id":563157,"headline":"","cta":"","url":"","cta_style":"","slideshow_type":"feature"},{"attachment_id":563163,"headline":"","cta":"","url":"","cta_style":"","slideshow_type":"feature"},{"attachment_id":563175,"headline":"","cta":"","url":"","cta_style":"","slideshow_type":"feature"},{"attachment_id":563184,"headline":"","cta":"","url":"","cta_style":"","slideshow_type":"feature"},{"attachment_id":563196,"headline":"","cta":"","url":"","cta_style":"","slideshow_type":"feature"}],"related-researchers":[{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Richard Banks","user_id":33361,"people_section":"Section name 1","alias":"rbanks"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Abigail Sellen","user_id":31112,"people_section":"Section name 1","alias":"asellen"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Si\u00e2n Lindley","user_id":33651,"people_section":"Section name 1","alias":"sianl"},{"type":"guest","display_name":"Stephanie Neumann","user_id":563250,"people_section":"Section name 1","alias":""}],"msr_research_lab":[199561],"msr_impact_theme":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project\/563148"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/msr-project"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project\/563148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":745384,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project\/563148\/revisions\/745384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"msr-research-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-area?post=563148"},{"taxonomy":"msr-locale","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-locale?post=563148"},{"taxonomy":"msr-impact-theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-impact-theme?post=563148"},{"taxonomy":"msr-pillar","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-pillar?post=563148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}