--- title: "VR Startup Working on Tech to “Replay” Memories" description: "A VR startup wants to allow users to record and then \"replay\" their memories back in the locations where they happened — but some folks aren't with it." date: "2023-02-26" modified: "2023-02-26" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/vr-startup-replay-memories" categories: - "Future Society" - "Virtual Reality" tags: - "AR" - "the digest" - "vr" - "vr headset" --- # VR Startup Working on Tech to “Replay” Memories ![A VR startup wants to allow users to record and then "replay" their memories back in the locations where they happened — but some folks aren't with it.]() *\Image: Wist Labs\* ## Playback The dystopian TV show "Black Mirror" is one step closer to becoming a reality thanks to a virtual reality startup that's allowing users to "replay" their memories in the exact locations where they've already happened. In a [video demonstration]() of the technology, startup Wist Labs brags that its forthcoming software will let users access precious moments "how \[they\] remember them" by replaying recorded "memories" overlayed over specific in-real-life settings via augmented reality. Per [Wist's website](), the process seems relatively straightforward: users can use an app to turn a regular video taken on their smartphones into a 3D representation, and then play it back on location either on their web browsers, on their phones, or inside a VR headset. "During capture, we save color, depth, device pose, audio, and scene information," Wist cofounder Andrew McHugh [told *Freethink* last fall](). "Depth is captured using the LiDAR sensors on the Pro model iPhones and iPads." https://twitter.com/WistLabs/status/1628129368760516609 ## Dystopia, Now While the concept is undeniably high-tech, lots of folks seem kind of put off by the terrifying concept of playing back recorded memories. As [multiple]() [Twitter users]() [noted](), the demo is eerily reminiscent of an early "Black Mirror" episode, "[The Entire History of You]()," in which a lovelorn man replays recent memories of a dinner party filmed from his always-on "grain" brain implant while trying to suss out if his wife is cheating on him. Another user [pointed to a sentimental scene]() from the 2002 film "Minority Report" based on the Philip K. Dick novel of the same title, in which a lead character plays back a memory of his kid playing, complete with the same kind of wispy visual trails seen in Wist's demo. Unlike the science fiction examples it's been compared to, users of Wist's VR are, at least, in control of the memories they record — and that, for now at least, makes all the difference. **More on VR:** [*Facebook's Metaverse Division Lost Nearly $14 Billion Dollars Last Year*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()