Lifelogging: The Health-Related Side Effects Of Keeping A Lifelog

Surely by now you know what a lifelog is, but in case you don’t, I will describe it in a few sentences. Lifeloggers are people who typically wear a tiny camera (see the picture on the left of the Memoto) which randomly snaps pictures of their lives all day long. That way, they are able to basically document their entire lives, without even thinking about it, through the random photos their cameras took. Lifelogs are now also created with video cameras which snap one second videos throughout the day similarly to the camera.

Lifelogging has been increasing in popularity over the past year or so, and if the trend continues, soon enough we will all have a lifelog of some sort to show our grandchildren someday. The thing is, up until recently, nobody really noticed any side effects of this activity. In other words, is there any information contained in a lifelog that could be derived and used to help us live better lives?

It turns out there is. According to an article on New Scientist called Lifelogging Captures A Real Picture Of Your Health, there are two side effects of lifelogging which are both quite fascinating and both related to our health.

First of all, when people are conscious of the fact that their lives are being recorded, they typically lead a healthier, more active life. After all, they want active pictures to document their lives, which is the whole point. There’s no sense in lifelogging if you’re just going to sit on the couch all day.

Secondly, and probably the most important, is that since those tiny cameras basically capture everything – that means they capture what you eat, how much you eat (portion size), when you eat, how much you exercise, how much you sleep, how much water you drink, how much time you spend watching TV, etc.

These are the things that in the past we didn’t notice about ourselves unless we specifically wrote them on a piece of paper. By looking at our lives from the outside in, through our own lifelog, we can get an honest, accurate picture of our lifestyle and how healthy it truly is. I hope you click over to the original New Scientist article because it’s a great read about this interesting topic. If you want to learn how to set up your own lifelog, click over to How To Create Your Own Lifelog & Augment Your Memories.