Ideas

Some Ideas That I’d Like to See Implemented#

Here I write down some things that I think should exist. Please get in touch if you want to build one of these together or if you have seen something similar.

1. Memory Palace Game#

A memory palace is a memorization technique, where you associate familiar places and paths with information you want to memorize. For example, you could take your daily route to school or to work and mentally “anchor” objects or persons along the route, to memorize vocabulary. To retrieve the information, you mentally play back your path.

This technique has helped me a lot while learning Chinese. It works better the more vivid, creative and crazy your associations are.

For example, to memorize the Chinese word for “Turkey” (Tu er qi), you could imagine two ergonomic pieces of cheese at your front door.

I figure that a game-like environment would offer a lot of ways to create memorable environments as well as creative associations.

There’s definitely some challenges involved:

• Creating an environment that has a lot of unique and memorable features. Maybe using Google Streetview would work? Popular games would be another environment many people are already familiar with, but there would be issues with copyright.
• Making it easy to add creative and colorful associations. Maybe for an MVP just having flash cards with text at each anchor would work and you have to create vivid associations in your head.
• Maybe AI could assist with creating associations, e.g. this text-to-image AI by OpenAI.

Btw I tried two ergonomic pieces of cheese with Dall-e, and these were the results. Looks like AI still has a long way to go :)

2. A Recipe Reader App#

A voice-enabled app that takes written or video recipes and makes them usable with Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant. On more than one occasion when following an online recipe I wished I was able to just say “Ok Google, what’s the next step?”, instead of cleaning and drying my hands to find the right segment in the text or video.

3. Casual Photo Shooting App#

This app brings together photographers and people who want their pictures taken. I had the idea after watching this:

The app has two modes:

1. Event Mode:

User’s perspective: You just ran your first marathon and you don’t have great photos of yourself. You open the app and take a selfie, so the app can find all the photos that you’re in, from different photographers. You can then select the photos you want and check out for a small fee. You now have professional grade photos, for which you would usually have to hire a photographer, at a fraction of the costs.

Photographer’s perspective: You’re at a (public) event and take photos of the crowd. You upload your photos to the app. You earn money every time someone buys one of your photos.

2. Photo Shoot Mode:

User’s perspective: You’re at a tourist spot, let’s say the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and you want nice pictures that go beyond the usual tourist photos. You open the app and find a photographer nearby, who knows the bests spots, possibly has some props and the right equipment (good camera, lights etc.). You meet them and agree on their fees (flat fee or pay per photo) and have a quick photo session of maybe 10 minutes. Afterwards you have all your photos available in the app.

Photographer’s perspective: You’re familiar with a popular photo location and want to earn some extra cash. You either walk around and ask people directly (while also promoting the app) or wait for requests to come in. The app takes care of everything, you can focus on taking great pictures. Afterwards you upload the photos in the app and get paid.

4. 3D Printed Travel Map With AR#

You upload your travel photos and the app creates a 3D map, which gets 3D printed and mailed to you as a souvenir. You can use your phone to scan a QR code and make it interactive, e.g. for mixed reality features like seeing your photos pinned on the map.