Memoto: This tiny, wearable camera wants to capture your day in photos, taking lifelogging mainstream

Lifelogging – the idea of carrying a tiny camera around with you and recording images from your entire day automatically – is nothing new, and yet it’s failed to catch on as yet. A new device and online service from Swedish startup Memoto that has just launched a campaign on Kickstarter, could change that.

Measuring just 1.4 x 1.4 inches, the Memoto clips on to your clothing. It takes a picture every thirty seconds throughout the day via its 5 megapixel camera, timestamping and geotagging each shot. Once you connect to your computer via USB, it will begin uploading your images to the accompanying Web service.

Now, there are 1,440 minutes in 24 hours, so that means Memoto is going to be taking up to 2,880 photos per day. Most of them are going to be worthless and repetitive shots. To counter this, the Memoto service automatically identifies different parts of the day and divides them into ‘moments’ so you can easily find the interesting parts of the day.

Most people won’t use Memoto all day every day, although with a promised 2-day battery life, it can certainly be a tool for hardcore lifeloggers. It should work just as well for capturing a fun day out or a vacation though.

Memoto is the new project from Martin Källström, the former CEO of blog search and media monitoring company Twingly (The Next Web Award contenders way back at our 2008 conference). The Kickstarter campaign begins today, and the startup says that it’s weeks away from having final working hardware in the final form factor. Launch is planned for early 2013.

The unit will be available in grey, white and orange colors for $279. However, if you back the Kickstarter campaign to the tune of $199 or more, you’ll receive a camera and 1-year Web service subscription when Memoto becomes available.

Now, some people will no doubt argue that lifelogging isn’t of mainstream interest, but Memoto and Google’s Project Glass look set to commoditize it like never before. With the likes of Fitbit and the Nike+ FuelBand, the idea of wearable computing is entering the mainstream. Memoto might have timed its arrival on the market just right.

UPDATE: The Kickstarter campaign has reached its $50,000 goal already, in around 5 hours, although there are still plenty of the initial batch of 1,000 devices available. It’s important to note that it is our understanding that the company has some degree of angel/seed funding from elsewhere too, although we’re currently clarifying the details of this.

UPDATE 2: Memoto tells us that the Kickstarter campaign is definitely no mere publicity campaign. The startup has raised €500,000 ($651,000) from early stage venture fund Passion Capital and angels Peter Read and Felix Petersen, but this does not cover production costs – so if you want to help this interesting device get off the ground, they’d still appreciate your backing over the remaining 37 days of the campaign.

➤ Memoto