memesto

Memesto is a term used in speculative design and cognitive science to describe a system or artifact that externalizes human memory into an accessible record or experience. It is not a single product but a family of concepts concerned with how memories can be captured, stored, organized, and retrieved outside the biological brain. The term blends memory and manifesto or memory store and has appeared in design discourse since the early 2010s as part of discussions on memory augmentation and the materialization of subjective experience.

Concept and architecture: A memesto proposal typically comprises data capture (audio, video, biometric cues), a storage and structuring layer, and an interface for navigation and re-experiencing. Formats range from digital memory banks and cloud-backed journals to physical objects embedded with sensors or tokens that unlock memories. Privacy, consent, provenance, and user control are core design concerns.

Applications: In theory, memesto could support personal recall, therapy for memory impairment or trauma processing, education by reconstructing learning episodes, and artistic installations exploring identity and memory. It is also used in critiques of surveillance capitalism and questions of data sovereignty.

Criticism and limitations: Critics point to risks of misinterpretation, manipulation, and sociotechnical dependence on external memory. Issues of security, ownership, accessibility, and inequality are central, as is the potential erosion of natural memory practices.

Related concepts include memory augmentation, external memory, autobiographical memory, and data sovereignty.