1. Create a learning path
A learning path is a folder for one subject — for example "Spanish", "Anatomy", or "History exam". Your wheels and notes live inside paths, and the sidebar on the left shows all of them.
- Open the app and create a new path. Give it a clear name.
- Use the menu on a path to add a New wheel or a New note, or to Edit, Archive, or Delete the path.
- Archive a path when a course ends. Nothing is lost — you can bring it back later.
2. Build a memory wheel
A wheel turns a fact you must remember into one vivid scene.
- Type your target — a theorem, a doctrine, a quote, a formula, or a date. For example: The entropy of an isolated system never decreases.
- Cast it as one small scene with the four rings: an agent, an action, an object, and a circumstance. Here: a sealed room grows messier and never tidier — the same law, but now you can see it.
- Spin each ring to the first letter of your scene word (sealed → S, grows → G, messier → M, never → N). The wheel bookmarks your scene so you can rebuild it later.
- Make the scene strange and vivid. Your brain forgets plain facts, but it holds on to a picture it can see.
3. Journal your scenes
Now write the story down, one scene for each chunk. This journal is the heart of the method: later you will rebuild the target from the scenes you wrote.
- Write each scene frame by frame, in your own words and your own language.
- Saved scenes go on your memory shelf. The wheel position is saved with each scene, so you can always see how the image was made.
- The shelf is searchable — you can find any scene again by its words.
4. Take notes — with your keyboard or your voice
Not everything needs a wheel. Grammar rules, definitions, and quick thoughts fit better in a note.
- Switch the capture toggle from Wheel to Note, or pick New note on a path.
- Type your note, or press the dictation button and speak — the app writes your words for you. (Dictation works best in Chrome and needs microphone access.)
- You can also record a short voice memo (up to 60 seconds) and attach pictures or code snippets.
5. Connect ideas in a graph
Graphs are mind maps. They show how your wheels and notes relate to each other. You can make as many graphs as you want, and one wheel or note can appear in many graphs.
- Open a wheel or note and find its In graphs panel. Press Add to a graph and pick a graph, or create a new one.
- On the graph canvas, drag nodes to move them. Pan and zoom with your fingers or mouse. Press Auto-arrange to tidy the layout in one tap.
- Tap a node to select it. You can then Open it, Link it to another node, give it a Colour, or Remove it from the graph.
- To link two nodes: tap Link, then tap the other node. You can give the link a label, such as "because" or "example of".
- Double-tap a node to jump straight into that wheel or note. A breadcrumb at the top leads you back to the map.
Positions, links, labels, and colours are all saved automatically.
6. Review your scenes
Memory grows when you try to recall, not when you re-read. Review in volvel.io means rebuilding your scenes.
- Reopen a wheel and go to its scenes. Before you read a scene, try to rebuild it in your mind.
- Recall the scene first — the picture, the action, the place. The target follows the story.
- If a scene does not come back easily, open the wheel and re-cast it. A stronger, stranger image usually fixes it.
7. Sync, export, and keep your work
- Sign in once and your paths, wheels, scenes, notes, and graphs sync across all your devices.
- If your connection drops, your work stays safe until you are back online.
- You can export your shelf — PDF and media — at any time. If you ever cancel, you export first and keep your journal.
Where to go next
Read how to use memory wheels for more depth on the wheel itself, or see how the method compares to a memory palace. Curious about the history? Start with the Giordano Bruno wheel.