Memory Glasses For Total Recall

When Richard W. DeVaul sits down to his computer, he sometimes forgets to eat for hours at a time. Names slip his mind at cocktail parties and,
to his embarrassment, he mixes up the faces of people he knows well.

A string on the finger might have been a solution in the past, but the Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate student is testing a more modern
lifeline for people who fumble for names, leave the stove on, or forget to call Mom on her birthday.

DeVaul’s “memory glasses” are a tiny computer display clipped onto eyeglass frames and wired to a lightweight computer that can flash reminders to the
wearer, without, he hopes, distraction or interference with day-to-day activities.

“The things that I want help with are, in a sense, very simple,” DeVaul said. “Basic things. If I’ve been sitting in front of my computer for six
hours, and haven’t gotten up to eat, a little thing would remind me, `Rich, go take a break.'”