Microsoft and DCU Target Alzheimer’s in Micro Camera Project
Tuesday 21 February 2006

Professor Alan Smeaton

US Multinational Microsoft has chosen a Dublin City University research team to take part in a project to create tiny cameras that can record a searchable digital picture diary of your entire day.

Microsoft Research in Redmond, Seattle has created a “SenseCam” – a tiny camera combined with an “accelerometer”, a device that makes the camera aware of a person’s movements. These micro cameras can be designed into jewellery, buttons or broaches to be unobtrusive or hidden.

The micro camera takes up to 3000 digital pictures a day and is activated by the movement and activity of the wearer as well as the changing surroundings. DCU’s image and video search technology can then be used to analyse the 3000 pictures and to isolate the “highlights” of the day.

This project is part of a larger programme at Microsoft Research to record people’s “life logs”. The technology can be used to provide a digital image record of each day in the life, like a picture diary, using the SenseCam. The work of the Adaptive Information Cluster (AIC) group at DCU is to identify the “highlights” or most important or memorable parts of the day’s activity.

Tom Murphy, Microsoft Ireland said, “We are delighted to partner with DCU on this valuable programme. At Microsoft we are committed to partnering with the best and brightest in the academic world to collaborate on key research programmes which will define the future of computing.”

An important practical application of the research is for Alzheimer patients. With a SenseCam “day in the life” diary, patients who may not be able to recall where they were or what they did, will have an accurate record to consult. DCU’s Professor of Computing Alan Smeaton is leading the research and says: “we are very excited about this technology and about what it might offer for Alzheimer’s sufferers, their families and carers. It may also be used to track the development of the condition”.

There are also many other applications, which could be developed for this technology. Indeed, the SenseCam could provide the solution for those days when you just cannot remember where you left your car keys, glasses or wallet!

Prof. Smeaton says that within a year he expects the research to be able to demonstrate some of these ideas in prototype applications which he hopes are then taken up into products.

The Adaptive Information Cluster (AIC) was established two years ago and is funded by Science Foundation Ireland. It is a multi-disciplinary research group involving leading researchers from DCU and UCD working in sensor science, software engineering, electronic engineering and computer science.

Close collaboration with industry and state bodies to develop applications for this research is a priority for the AIC. Particular areas of interest are personal health management, environmental monitoring, personalized retailing and security and threat detection.