[1] It is a Microsoft Research project inspired by Vannevar Bush's hypothetical Memex computer system.
Jim Gemmell of Microsoft Research and Roger Lueder were the architects and creators of the system and its software.
MyLifeBits is an attempt to fulfill Vannevar Bush's vision of an automated store of the documents, pictures (including those taken automatically), and sounds an individual has experienced in his lifetime, to be accessed with speed and ease.
He continued to do so through his death in 2024, gathering web pages browsed, phone and instant messaging conversations and the like more or less automatically.
He described the rise of the smartphone as largely fulfilling Bush's vision of the Memex.