Tap To Remember is a wearable memory prosthesis. We are testing whether laboratory techniques for enhancing memory—such as targeted memory reactivation, theta wave entrainment, and spaced repetition—can be unintrusively integrated into a smartwatch and used to improve memory. Our goal is to facilitate learning in healthy people, and improve memory function and quality of life in people suffering from memory disorders.
Currently, we are beginning a study to test whether Targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR) with smartwatches can be used to improve memory for everyday events. In this study, participants watch a movie while wearing a smartwatch that periodically vibrates in a specific pattern. When participants go to bed, an algorithm in the smartwatches detects deep sleep and replays the same sequence of vibrations, inducing reactivation of the memory in sleep. This technique has previously been shown to improve memory in laboratory tests; our experiment aims to show that the technique can be used outside the lab to enhance memory for everyday events.