How To Build Virtual Memory Palaces & Use Them For Learning

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So, you want to develop and use a virtual Memory Palace.

It’s possible.

The earliest example I’m aware of comes from Hugh of St. Victor, who lived and taught memory techniques during the medieval period.

These days, we have even more options than he did because we live in a world packed with many kinds of imaginary potential memory spaces.

Although I’m going to share with you several examples and a detailed tutorial, for most of us, using Memory Palaces will be stronger.

The reason why exploring virtual Memory Palaces is to make our skills stronger still.

That’s because the whole point of the Memory Palace technique is to reduce cognitive load rather than increasing it.

This is an especially important issue if you want to memorize long form content, or study a lot of material for complex exams.

However, if you’re going to develop artificial Memory Palaces or use VR, there are ways to minimize the increased demands on your working memory that they inevitably create. I’ll share them with you on this page, along with dedicated research on the matter.

Ready to explore whether or not this mnemonic strategy is the right approach for you?

Let’s dive in!

What Is A Virtual Memory Palace?

As I mentioned, there is a long history to the idea of a virtual Memory Palace – or a mnemonic device based on a location you have not seen with your own eyes.

Or, if you’re not able to see (because people without vision also use Memory Palaces), we’re talking about using an area that you haven’t touched with your hands.

Why use the word “virtual”? Well, as the Etymonline definition reminds us, at some point in the 15th century, the word took on these two meanings:

Being something in essence or effect, though not actually or in fact” is from mid-15c., probably via sense of “capable of producing a certain effect” (early 15c.).

The five main kinds of virtual Memory Palace that do not actually exist but create the effect of helping you remember things include:

• Mnemonic journeys based on fantasy locations found in books, movies, video games, VR programs and paintings
• Memory Palaces based on homes and apartments currently for rent or sale and sourced on real estate websites
• Online museum tours
• Locations found using Google Maps or Google Earth
• Memory Palaces provided by authors of memory training books
• Memory Palaces provided by scientists like Tyson Yunkaporta and David Reser for research purposes
• Memory Palaces you create from scratch using your own imagination

Again, the key is that you’ve never visited the space before. If you’re using Google Maps to refresh your memory of a place you’re been, that’s not really a virtual Memory Palace, for example.

Historical & Other Examples Of Virtual Memory Palaces

Hugh of St. Victor used Noah’s Ark as a Memory Palace. In fact, he used four versions of it, which you can read in a book called The Mystic Ark.

To give the technique a try, I conducted a case study and created this video walkthrough for you based on my experiment and what I discovered by trying to reproduce the basic concept:

Other examples of using imaginary spaces, or places that the Memory Palace user did not visit include:

• Timothy Moser’s work on virtual Memory Palaces for Spanish
• Virtual Memory Palaces provided in books like Memorize the Stoics by Kevin Vost
• Giordano Bruno‘s “infinite” Memory Palace technique
• Possibly Robert Fludd‘s “theatre of the world” technique

For Fludd, I say that’s it’s only “possible” that he meant for his Memory Palace illustrations to be used by his readers.

Fludd says some things in his writing that suggest he meant for you to use a theatre that you were familiar with to place the target information you want to remember. It’s not at all clear to me that he was teaching anything other than the traditional Memory Palace technique.

But he also includes the geometric forms you see in the illustration above. These could be used as portals or wormholes to other places. There’s also the suggestion that pairing certain kinds of words to geometrical forms might help with the memorization of grammar.

It’s difficult to tell, but no matter what Fludd intended, you can use the illustration as a virtual Memory Palace. You can also imagine locations behind the open doors and connect one virtual Memory Palace to another if you wish.

Three Contemporary Virtual Memory Palace Examples

In any case, I think what Fludd is providing is different than the virtual Memory Palace examples you see in Kevin Vost’s books.

As you can in the example above, Vost has not only provided a simple drawing for you to use as a virtual Memory Palace. He’s also included numbers for the individual stations, each linked with an imaginary object:

• Door
• Carpet
• Window
• Framed portrait
• Etc.

Timothy Moser goes even further in Accelerated Spanish series by providing both a fairground and a bee named Joel who you can follow around while learning Spanish.

There’s also the Dean Vaughn approach, which is called the “Vaughn Cube.”

Basically, you divide up a room according to your particular learning goal. One of this most interesting books discusses how to use this type of virtual Memory Palace to commit music to memory, especially challenging information like the key signatures.

Vaughn’s book came with a DVD that even animated the Vaughn cube for you. My friend John and I talk a bit about related ways to use Memory Palaces in this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.

Two other related examples where authors give you imaginary Memory Palaces are Ed Cooke‘s Remember, Remember and The Memory Palace by Lewis Smile. Young people have really taken to Smile book, as we heard from Alicia Crosby and her father on this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast. She even talks about how she uses Minecraft for Memory Palaces.

How to Create a Virtual Memory Palace Step-By-Step

Let’s go through the best practices you’ll want to follow in order to get the most out of the cognitive demands virtual Memory Palaces will likely place on your mind.

As you go through each step, remember that you ultimately need to experiment on your own. You might find your own steps as part of the process. These are the ones that have worked best for myself and students in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.

Step One: Screenshot A Visual Image Of The Virtual Memory Palace

Whether you’re using a real estate website or a movie, the key is to work from an image you can see with your eyes.

This is because you’ll need to divide the imaginary space into sections so you can create your journey. Although using virtual Memory Palaces is relatively new, the same rules for proper Memory Palace creation described thousands of years ago in Rhetorica ad Herennium still apply.

In the case of “Cafe Mnemonic,” a virtual Memory Palace I created with the help of an entrepreneur and an artist, I have the Memory Palace drawing on my computer.

As you look at my virtual “Cafe Mnemonic” Memory Palace drawing, notice how it is divided into different sections:

• Music
• Poetry
• Autobiographical matters
• Anatomy
• Chemistry
• Music

The reason I divided this particular virtual Memory Palace in this way has to do with my learning goals. You will want to divide yours according to your own learning cycle to optimize its effectiveness.

I’ve also created virtual Memory Palaces by visiting Wikimedia Commons to scout for locations. Although I no longer have the drawing I made based on a photograph of the Keats-Shelley House in Rome, I’ve reproduced the basic concept for you in the following image so you can better follow while completing step two.

Step Two: Divide The Imaginary Location Into Segments

As you can see from the photograph above, there is a lovely room in the Keats-Shelley house. Using the method of loci, I assigned individual spots or “Magnetic Stations.”

These are the places I used to set or leave the target information I wanted to remember. They provide a backdrop that makes it easier to place mnemonic images.

But notice the relationship here between the numbered structure and the Vaughn Cube. To make it as easy to use as possible and reduce the cognitive load, the mental journey is as simple as possible.

Let’s talk more about creating simple but effective journeys next.

Step Three: Create a Journey Through The Memory Palace

Normally I draw my Memory Palaces, regardless of whether they are based on real or imaginary locations. As you can see in the Memory Palace drawings above, each Memory Palace is numbered.

In both cases, each of these novels were adapted into films, so I had both novel and movie in mind at the same time while developing these locations for memorizing information.

For more on using novels as Memory Palaces, check out this video tutorial:

In addition to using books and movies, you could use the layout of Homer Simpson’s house (an animation) or  indeed the buildings in any sitcom. For a while, I used the living room in Three’s Company and even “invented” what some of the bedrooms looked like to create more space.

For me, that ultimately only increased the cognitive load, reducing the viability of using the technique for any serious amount of learning. If you run into similar issues, pick shows or sources you’ve spent plenty of time looking at or imagining. That way, you’ll already have a solid mental image of the location’s layout.

Some people have used video games too, and the same principle of assigning a clear and easy journey applies.

When I’ve used virtual Memory Palaces based on games, I have preferred simple platform games like Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. Idriz Zogaj has shared more elaborate options that you can use based on things he’s heard from memory athletes.

Here’s why I ultimately prefer the simplest possible games:

A platform games lets you see the entire journey and all of its stations at a single glance. You can also set rules much easier, such as that there will always be three stations per ramp, etc. These kinds of video games also lend themselves to the drawing step, making journey creation fast and easy.

That said, I lean towards this method because I have a weak mind’s eye, if not aphantasia. But a lot of people who come to my teaching have rusty imaginative and visualization skills, so they generally appreciate using drawings to help with assigning rock solid journeys.

But if you want to explore different approaches beyond what we’re talking about today, here are 5 ways you can navigate other kinds of Memory Palaces.

Step Four: Experiment, Experiment, Experiment

No matter what source you choose for your virtual Memory Palaces, you’ll need to experiment.

If you’re keen on first-person shooter games or games that use vast expanses of space and can remember these journeys, just know that you’ll need to spend more time experimenting.

If you want to use a journey from The Lord of the Rings, you’ll probably have to know it quite well to use any of its many locations.

Of course, there’s also Minecraft for building Memory Palaces.  Here’s a video showing how that might work for you:

That example is especially interesting because some people might love the sound of hearing their feet on the ground as they navigate the virtual Memory Palaces.

If you choose a video game for your Memory Palace, it’s important to be selective of your stations and keep it simple. This is an example of how I’ve used a platform game like Pac-Man:

Notice that I don’t try to use all of the possible spaces. Just the ones that are clear and distinct. Theoretically, every pellet could be used for loci, but that would be cognitively draining.

If you want more space, you could consider using an imaginary chessboard. You’d just have to have basic knowledge of how many squares are on a board and then pick a starting point.

I’ve tried experiments with imaginary chessboards, and except for memorizing numbers, they are quite cramped. Blowing them up in my mind helps a little, but it winds up requiring more mental energy that it is worth.

A slightly easier version is to make up your own platform, like an imaginary treehouse. I’ve found this useful, but only if I limit myself to the rule of threes.

No matter what source you choose, the key is to create the journeys optimally, use them for spaced repetition and spend enough time using the technique in order to really feel it out.

Chances are, you’ll discover features of the approach that are unique to you as you go about things. Especially if you follow memory athlete Johannes Mallow’s journaling advice to track your progress.

Step Five: Use the Virtual Memory Palace With Spaced Repetition

The whole point of the Memory Palace technique is to use it as a tool for spaced repetition.

That’s why I generally recommend people save their time and make much simpler Memory Palaces based on real locations.

It’s easier to just recall a room than have to reconstruct a location and the mnemonic image at the same time.

Either way, you will need to use the Memory Palace with spaced repetition in order to form long-term retention of your target information.

Briefly, you want to:

• Fill your virtual Memory Palace with images linked to the target information you want to remember
• Revisit each station on a specific pattern to “trigger” the associations and call back the target information
• Write the target information down for self-testing purposes

This final point is especially important when using Memory Palaces for studying. You need to put your reps in for long-term retention to occur.

Step Six: Continue Experimenting With Different Options

In my journey with exploring virtual Memory Palaces, I’ve done all kinds of things.

For example, I used the series Breaking Bad to memorize a phrase in Latin. Here’s a tutorial detailing how just referring to that location was useful and enabled me to use this phrase now all the time:

I’ve also developed imaginary trains in which I experimented with memorizing poetry. It worked fairly well, but falls apart a little due to what memory science going back to Ebbinghaus predicts. It’s harder to give primacy and recency to each imaginary station because you have to rebuild it while calling back the target information. The forgetting curve takes hold a lot faster because the frustration is quite high.

But let me share with you two of my favorite approaches you can explore: turning an empty box into a Memory Palace.

In one of my home offices in Berlin, I used to have a Bicycle cards tuck case on my desk. I used the apartment as a Memory Palace, and inside that box was the underground garage in one of the Batman movies. I only memorized a few small things in there, but this simple idea expanded the size of the real Memory Palace.

Likewise, I would sometimes place imaginary bookcases inside of real Memory Palaces.

To make even more space, I would sometimes change the colors of these bookcases to increase the space. I was younger then and not working to combat cognitive decline as I am now. But for a few years, I made this approach work quite well.

That said, because I know (and can teach you) how to find dozens of Memory Palaces on demand, I’m not missing out by relying mostly now on the Magnetic Memory Method variation on the standard technique. In The Art of Memory, Frances Yates called this approach “the Herennium Pattern,” an ancient memory technique that still works to this day.

My preference, more and more, is to cleave to the tradition and help people do the same, especially if they struggle with the additional cognitive drain using imaginary items and virtual Memory Palaces creates.

What About Virtual Reality Memory Palaces?

I remember when one of my students Adolfo Artigas was so excited to use his VR headset and make Memory Palaces out of virtual environments.

It was only a week before he sent me a video of what he was seeing – and a complaint about how “seasick” the experience made him.

Don’t get me wrong:

You can obviously use a VR helmet in conjunction with the Memory Palace technique. In fact, the University of York listed this doctoral position for people interested on researching the relationship between digital environments and memory.

I reached out to the scholar for an interview on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, but he declined. But as Dr. Aidan Horner discusses in this post with more details about the research:

…we still need a clear theoretical account of how spatial structure affects memory. Without this, we lack the ability to build spatial environments that would optimally boost memory.

Jaron Lanier has discussed similar limitations and issues in Dawn of the New Everything, which I believe everyone interested in virtual Memory Palaces should read.

Additionally, this research paper seems to support exactly what I’ve been suggesting all along. Your mind has to track both the invented environment and the target information. In the virtual Memory Palace, the overload is so much higher.

Not only that, but we should take into consideration the response to Apple’s Vision Pro. It was generally not favorable, except perhaps when people change the meaning of the term, “Memory Palace.” Alex Coulombe did this on LinkedIn in a post that only partially reflects this technique and how it works, for example.

The people behind the Marble Mind Palace change its meaning to “anchoring exhibits” in a similar way. In both cases, these people seem to mean that putting various browsers and documents on your virtual walls is the Memory Palace technique.

I’m not convinced that it is, even if it triggers some recall of what you were doing in the past with various documents.

And the Marble Mind Palace video showcasing the software? It shows the same shakiness Adolfo complained about and ultimately made him exclaim that traditional Memory Palaces are better, period. Not just for learning goals.

In any case, I’m not trying to police the world and how people use this term. But I agree with Dr. Horner that a proper thesis about how spatial memory works doesn’t exist yet and there’s a long way to go before VR provides an option that is faster and more reliable for the serious mnemonist.

We also have to account for the problem that scientists admit that they still don’t fully understand why the traditional Memory Palace works. As this article points out, blind people can use the technique, challenging the idea that seeing anything, let alone a visual environment is even necessary. In my personal experience, and in my discussions with memory expert Lynne Kelly who identifies as having aphantasia, seeing your Memory Palaces is simply not required.

Always remember: There’s a difference between activity and accomplishment. What I’ve seen so far from the VR world looks like a lot more Memory Palace renovation and seasickness than actually using the technique to commit information to memory. You can literally take your pick and I suggest you experiment quickly, fail fast and use the technique that actually works for you with a minimum amount of activity and a maximum payoff in terms of the amount of knowledge you can recall reliably.

Should You Use A Virtual Memory Palace?

Absolutely yes.

Despite some of my critical points above, I am devoted to exploration. I also cherish experimentation and open inquiry, so long as it is charitable.

By exploring the different kinds of virtual Memory Palaces we’ve discussed today, I’ve improved my practice with memory techniques tremendously.

It’s stretched my imagination, exercised my computational thinking and taught me a lot about different levels of cognitive load.

Virtual Memory Palaces are also fascinating to discuss. And as you’ve seen, many people have used them. The idea even relates to some other affinity techniques, like the Memory Wheel and mind mapping.

I’ll talk more about those topics soon. Until then, if you want to keep in touch and benefit form the traditional Memory Palace technique, grab my free course here:

It will gift you four video lessons and three worksheets.

You can use them to help yourself craft either traditional or virtual Memory Palaces.

Again, I think it’s worth experimenting with both. I have and I don’t regret it.

All you have to do is take action. Spend enough time to really explore the technique. Soon you’ll enjoy using all kinds of Memory Palaces to help you learn faster and remember more.