iCue Memory

Global Memory Rankings

Cards

Binary

Numbers (PI)

Numbers (e)

Numbers (Phi)

Numbers (Gamma)

Numbers (Random)

iCue Memory

If our brains were computers, we'd just add RAM to upgrade our memory. But, the human brain is far more complex and improving human memory requires more effort.

Imagine being able to memorize the order of cards in an entire deck as quickly as they can be dealt, or phone numbers the moment they are voiced. Just like muscular strength, the ability to remember increases when exercised. Whether you want to win the World Memory Championships, ace your history test, or simply remember someone’s phone number without having to write it down, iCue is for you.

Through three simple games you can practice and perfect the skills required to remember playing cards, long strings of numbers, mathematical constants like π (Pi), e, ϕ (Phi), Ɣ (Gamma), and strings of binary digits. Based on leading memory improvement techniques, iCue will help you improve your memory before you know it. It takes a little time and practice, but once you’ve got it down - you’ll be able to amaze your friends.

Scoring is based on memorization time, number of items being memorized, recall time and accuracy. Compete against yourself and against others around the world for the highest scores.

Speed Cards

GOAL: To commit to memory and recall a selected number of playing cards in the shortest possible time.

Settings for the game are accessed via the gear icon in the upper left of the start page. Options include the number of cards, memorization time, recall time and hints. Turning on hints will display a common playing card peg word below the card value. If you are unfamiliar with this process of memorizing card values, please visit our website at icue.concentricsky.com for more information. Once the settings are selected press the save button then the play button to begin the game.

In the memorization phase a shuffled deck of up to four full decks (208) of playing cards is displayed on-screen via cover-flow. Your goal is to try and commit the order of the cards to memory in a set amount of time. You can move forward and back through the deck as you memorize. Once you feel you have successfully memorized the order, click the recall button in the upper right.

In recall mode, a blank deck of cards is presented on screen via cover-flow and your goal is to fill in the cards in a fixed amount of time. Use the recall toolbar at the bottom to chose the suit and value of each card. Once a card value as been entered, the next card will be presented automatically. Scrolling forward or back through the deck allows values to be entered in any order as well as changed. Once all the card values have been entered press the finish button to display your scores.

Scores are based on a number of factors including: memorization time, recall time, number of cards, accuracy and whether or not hints are enabled. Your top ten scores are shown on this screen. To view your top scores for other games, as well as global top scores, press on the scores tab in the tab bar.

Numbers Marathon

GOAL: To commit to memory as many digits as possible and recall them perfectly. Numbers currently offers 5 modes to choose from: Four mathematical constants ( π [Pi], e, ϕ [Phi], Ɣ [Gamma] ) and a random number mode.

Settings for the game are accessed via the gear icon in the upper left of the start page. Options include mode ( π [Pi], e, ϕ [Phi], Ɣ [Gamma], Random ), total number of digits to be memorized, how many digits will be revealed when the ‘Show Next Group’ button is pressed, memorization time, and recall time.

In the memorization phase the first group of digits is shown on the screen. Once the group is memorized, pressing the ‘Show Next Group’ button at the bottom will append subsequent groups of numbers to the line. Continue appending groups of digits until the line is complete, then press the ‘Show Next Line’ button. Memorize each line in this way until the number of lines designated on the settings page has been reached. Once the numbers have been successfully memorized, press the ‘Recall’ button in the upper right.

In recall mode you will enter each line of numbers one line at a time using the number pad. Once the line is entered into the text area, press the check-mark to commit it. You will then be shown the correct answer for the line directly above your own answer, with the correct and incorrect numbers highlighted. Continue entering each line in this way until all the lines have been entered and press the finish button to view your score.

Scores are based on a number of factors including: memorization time, recall time, number of digits and accuracy. Your top ten scores are shown on this screen. To view your top scores for other games, as well as global top scores, click on the scores tab in the tab bar.

Binary Digits

GOAL: To commit to memory as many binary digits (101101 etc) as possible and recall them perfectly in a set amount of time.

Settings for the game are accessed via the gear icon in the upper left of the start page. Options include the total number of lines to be memorized, how many digits there are in each line, how many digits to reveal at one time, memorization time and recall time. Once the settings are selected press the save button then the play button to begin the game.

In the memorization phase the first group of binary digits is shown on the screen. Once the group is memorized, pressing the 'Show Next Group' button at the bottom will append subsequent groups of numbers to the line. Continue appending groups of digits until the line is complete, then press the ‘Show Next Line’ button. Memorize each line in this way until the number of lines designated on the settings page has been reached. Once the numbers have been successfully memorized, press the ‘Recall’ button in the upper right.

In recall mode you will enter each line of numbers one line at a time using the number pad. Once the line is entered into the text area, press the check-mark to commit it. You will then be shown the correct answer for the line directly above your own answer, with the correct and incorrect numbers highlighted. Continue entering each line in this way until all the lines have been entered and press the finish button to view your score.

Scores are based on a number of factors including: memorization time, recall time, number of digits and accuracy. Your top ten scores are shown on this screen. To view your top scores for other games, as well as global top scores, click on the scores tab in the tab bar.

Memorizing Numbers

While there are many tools to help improve your memory, iCue Memory - Numbers Marathon is best mastered using a technique known as the Major Memory System - one of the most powerful memory systems available. While a considerable amount of time goes into mastering it, once learned it is very powerful, and often is the basis of some of the extraordinary memory feats performed by stage magicians and memory performers.

The system works by converting number sequences into nouns, nouns into images, and linking images into sequences. The sequences themselves can be very complex and detailed.

How to use the Major System:

The building blocks of the system are the association of the numbers below with the following consonant sounds:

Each digit maps to a set of similar sounds with similar mouth and tongue positions. The mapping is phonetic, so it is the consonant sounds that matter, not the spelling.

These associations need to be learned thoroughly before going further with the technique.

How to Use the Major System:

The system operates on a number of levels, depending on the amount of time you are prepared to devote to learning the system.

The first level, which involves coding single digit numbers into small words, functions almost as a poor relation of the number/rhyme system. It is at higher levels that you can unleash the real power of the system. You should, however, learn to use this first level before moving on.

The trick with converting numbers into words is to use only the consonants that code information within the word, while using vowels to pad the consonants out with meaning. If you do have to use other consonants to make up a word, use only those that do not code for numbers - i.e. h, q, w, x, and y.

At the first level we code each number into a short noun. This is made up of the consonant coding for the number, and vowels that turn the consonant into a word. On a sheet of paper, write the numbers 0 to 9, and apply these rules to create your own memory words. Some examples are shown below:

You can use these words in association much like other peg technique memory words.

Moving to the Second Level:

Similar rules apply to creating a standard word from two numbers. It is best not to try to use a single number word as a root, as this can confuse the image.

Write down the numbers 01 to 99, and apply the rules to create memory words for yourself.

A few examples are shown below:

Taking the Major System Further

Just using double number words may be enough to make this a sufficiently powerful mnemonic for you. Alternatively you may decide to use triple number words, using the same construction rules as double number words.

Examples might include:

Of course, this technique can be extended in many directions. Wouldn't it be easier to picture a printing press with a giant roller (454) to represent 1454, the year of it's invention; or a puzzle (905) to represent the year 1905, when Einstein first proposed his Thoery of Relativity? You could also create phrases like Changed Sky Focus for 1608, the year the telescope was invented, where only the first letter of each word represents a number.

Using Words to Remember Long Numbers

For most people, it's easier to remember an image or story incorporating words than it is to remember strings of digits. For example, it may be easier to remember "moderately pendulum" than to directly memorize the first 10 digits of Pi (3.141592653). It's moderately difficult to make a pendulum out of an apple pie. A vivid image of that sentence might be remembered more easily than directly memorizing 3.141592653=Pi.

The major system isn't always the best way to remember a number. The first 16 digits of e (Euler’s constant) are 2.718281828459045. If you invented a new way to fold a flag so that it would open up in the shape of an E, could you patent that? Negative: it isn't innovative to unfurl bizarrely as an E. That sentence could be used to memorize the first 16 digits of e. On the other hand, some people might find it easier to remember them directly by grouping them this way: 2.7 the standard approximation of e 1828 a year 1828 the same year again 45 90 45 cut a square in half to get a triangle with these angles The "best" technique depends on the person and the situation, but the major system can be a helpful tool in many cases.

Another useful way of remembering long strings of numbers is to associate Major System words with stops on a journey.

Example:
The number Pi is 3.14159265359 (to 11 decimal places). Using the major system and the journey system together, I can remember this as:

1. Passing my Ma (3) by the front door of my house
2. Seeing that someone has dared (1,4,1) to sleep under the rose bush in the garden
3. Someone has tied a loop (5,9) of yellow ribbon onto the steering wheel of my car
4. I see a poster with a photo of a plate of Nachos, with the title 'glorious NACHO' (2,6) at the end of the road
5. A lama (5,3) is grazing on grass outside the garage forecourt
6. Another loop (5,9) of yellow ribbon has been tied around the railway bridge. This is getting strange!

Key points:
The major memory system works by linking numbers to consonants, and then by linking these into words. By using the images these words create, and linking them together with the journey system, large amounts of information can be accurately memorized.

Memorizing Cards

It takes a bit of work and practice, but you can memorize playing cards. Like numbers, playing cards are difficult to remember because they are hard to picture. The system we recommend is based on having each card in the deck be represented by a tangible item, something that can be easily pictured.

The classic approach to memorizing specific playing cards is to use a modified Major System which is described under the Numbers Techniques tab.

There are numerous minor variations to this systems, but the most common ones use the first letter of the suit, followed by the number of the card, for example C2 for the two of clubs. In this example, the two is converted into its phonetic equivalent (N), and then a word is made (CAN). From then on, whenever you picture a can, when dealing with playing cards, you'll know it refers to the two of clubs.

This works well when dealing with only the numbers, but problems develop when applying this to the four cards denoted by letters (Ace, King, Queen and Jack). Besides having similar crossover sounds, we're also dealing with vowels, as well. COOK could be a mnemonic for either the 7 of clubs, or the king of clubs. To remember the ace of clubs by the above means, your options are limited to something like CA, which is difficult to picture.

To deal with the ace problem, aces are usually considered to be ones. This gives them a T or D sound that is easier to make words with. Instead of CA, the ace of clubs can be remembered as CAT.

The problem of similar sounds with the court cards (Jacks, Queens and Kings) can be solved by taking a different approach with them. With kings and queens, you can solve the problem by using words that rhyme with king or queen, such as SING for the king of spades or DEAN for the queen of diamonds (and, as you'll see, sometimes a little fudging is needed here). You can't use the rhyming method with Jacks, because the sound for sevens is K, and you may already have words such as SACK for the 7 of spades. One simple solution to this is to use the suit name itself for the jacks. A mental image of a CLUB would substitute for the jack of clubs, SPADE for the jack of spades, and so on.

While tens can be represented with a TS sound, but many systems simply represent it as an S sound, as if it was a zero.

A full potential chart of images for each playing card might look something like this:

In some card feats, you may need to know the order or the exact location, as well as the name of a particular card. There are several ways to do this. For a strict list of which card is where, you'll probably want to use a peg system. For a relative list of simply which card comes after which card, you would probably prefer a journey system or a link system.

Use a Peg System
With the major system, you can quickly link each numbered peg to each card image. If you see the 4C come up first, you would link your image for 4C to your image for one (say, "tie").

Use a Journey System
An alternative method to using the major system as pegs is to use a journey (locus) system. A sequence of 52 familiar locations is memorized - such as a walk around your house - and one image is placed in each location. An advantage of this is that you can easily create more journeys to memorize more cards.

Memorizers who compete for world record performances in memorizing cards generally use the journey system. The best memorizers usually memorize two or three cards in each location.

Using a Link System
To use the link system, you visualize the first card, visualize it associated with the second, visualize the second associated with the third,and so on. For example to memorize the sequence 8H, QC, 2H, KD, 4S, 3D, Visualize a giant hive for 8 of hearts, link it to the next card by imagining giant bees swarming when a bucket of cream (QC=cream) is poured on it. Now associate cream with hen (2H) by imagining a chicken (hen) floating (or swimming) in that lake of cream. Associate hen with drink by imagining yourself drinking from chicken-shaped mug. Associate drink with sauce by visualizing an a water cooler filled with spaghetti sauce, now associate the sauce with a dam by imagining a dam holding in a lake of red sauce.

Mastering iCue Memory and the Cards Marathon will take a lot of practice, but the games reinforce one another and the more you work at it the easier each will become.

Memorizing Binary Digits

When one first learns that the binary system is used in computer science, and that it involves long strings of ones and zeroes, it can seem very intimidating. However, the term "binary" alone simply refers to anything that is limited to one of two states. The term "binary system" refers to a system of counting by using a series of ones and zeroes.

Binary numbers, with their long strings of ones and zeros, can appear difficult to memorize, but there are several proven methods to do so, a few of which are described below.

1) Lewis Jones' 3-Bit Method

Lewis Jones originally developed this system for use with playing cards, but it works well with any type of binary information (including, obviously, binary numbers).

In this system the binary numbers are broken into groups of three digits and Each group is then given a name that describes the locations of the ones in the number. With binary numbers, there are only eight possible arrangements of a three-digit group:

One of the advantages of the binary system is that we can focus on the ones in this manner. After all, if it isn't a "1", it must be a "0".

It should be noted that each group's label begins with a different letter: N, T, M, U, B, O, L, A. This letter alone can be used to instantly identify any three-digit group of binary numbers. To remember several three-digit sequences of binary numbers, you can put the letters together to form a memorable image.

Let's say you want to remember the binary sequence 001011100111. First, you would break the sequence into groups of three digits: 001011100111. Next, convert each group to the appropriate letter:

To remember the sequence 001011100111, simply remember the word "Tuba"!

Unfortunately, the letters may not always form an actual word like "Tuba" with this system. In that case, insert extra i's or e's into the "words", since they have no meaning in this system. NTTL could become Nettle, and TMLN can become Timeline. 

2) Nybble (4-Bit) Method

To remember more digits at a single glance, the above method can be adapted to use 4-bit words instead of 3. With 4 bits, there are now 16 possibilities, so they are described in small groups. Once again, the descriptions focus on where the ones are in the series.

The first two are the easiest:

The next four all involve a single 1 in their number, and are also easy to remember (Note: In this method, the left-most bit is considered to be "lower" than the right-most bit):

This group involves two ones next to each other:

There are several 4-bit numbers which have two ones not next to each other:

The "Alternating" and "Rotating" patterns are easily confused with each other, so there's a built-in mnemonic in the words themselves. The first vowel in the word "Alternating" is an "A", the first letter of the alphabet, so the left-most bit is a one. The first vowel in the word "Rotating" is an "O", which looks like the number zero, therefore the left-most bit is a zero.

The next group contains three ones next to each other:

The final two remaining combinations contain three ones each, with a zero somewhere in the middle:

As with the previous 3-bit method, each pattern has a name beginning with a different letter (N, E, F, S, T, B, H, I, M, O, R, A, U, L, G or C), so each pattern can be recalled just by its first letter. Keep in mind, when using this 4-bit method, you no longer have the freedom to place unused vowels among the letters, as all five of the regular vowels (A, E, I, O, U) have a particular meaning in this system.

There are two ways to deal with this. First, you could get lucky and the letters you're recalling naturally form a real word (such as ACHE, ALIEN or ORANGES). The second is to remember the numbers in pairs, with the important letters being the first and last letters of a word. (If you have to remember F and S, you might think of the word "FrieS", for example). In this way, you're free to add any letters you wish to make a word, because the only letters that matter will be the first and last letters. With this approach, you'll be able to remember long strings of binary digits simply as linked lists.

3) "Conversion" Method

Like the Lewis Jones method above, this system works with groups of three digits. In this system, however, we start by converting each group of three to its binary equivalent:

These equivalents must be memorized before proceeding any further. You can use the Major System or the Dominic System (links to wiki articles above) to link each binary group to its binary equivalent.

To remember a sequence in this manner, you would once again break down the number into three digit groups, and then label each group with the appropriate number.

For example, let's use the number 111101001000. Breaking this into groups of three digits, we get 111 101 001 000. These groups convert into 7510.

It is important to realize, at this point, that 7510 is a result of the way we broke the number up, and that it's is NOT the binary equivalent of 111101001000 (the actual base 10 equivalent of this binary number is 3912).

With the Major System, you could remember this number as "Collides".