Ever put your car keys or mobile phone somewhere and then forget where you put them? Japanese scientists at the University of Tokyo have invented a pair of intelligent glasses that remembers where people last saw their keys, handbag, iPod or mobile phone.

The glasses come with a built in camera that can even identify unfamiliar plants or faces. It is an invention that could help not only those of us who experience common forgetfulness, but also those suffering from serious memory problems caused by dementia.

The Smart Goggles contain a compact video camera which films everything the wearer looks at - and a viewfinder which fits snugly in front of the right lens. The glasses are connected to a small, but smart computer processor worn on the back which can learn to recognize shapes extremely quickly.

To use the glasses, you simply walk around your house or workplace for an hour or so, looking at the objects that you may later want to find in a hurry.

Each time the camera focuses on a object - such as a set of keys, a mobile phone or a purse - you say the name aloud. The name is then recorded and stored into the memory.

Once the names have been programmed in, the glasses will try to find the right name for what you need. All you have to do is shout out what it is you are looking for.

Get this: The high speed, image recognition technology could also help develop robots - like the Terminator androids from the science fiction series - that have human-like abilities. Not only that, but the glasses could also be used as an educational tool by allowing wearers to walk through gardens, stare and unfamiliar plants and find out their names instantly.

In looking at this photo you can see that the prototype version is still too bulky and obtrusive to use in public, but I’m sure that given time, technologists could eventually shrink the camera and viewfinder down to a more sensible, and fashionable, size within a few years!