amnesia's "lanterns" - ?

[wcer]

Spoiler below!

Are the "canisters" with little glowing blue orbs on them save spots, like the "lanterns" in penumbra, or do they serve some other purpose? I don't recall ever loading next to one in Amnesia and I've only found a few so far.

[Elisius Von Pryde]

I think they're just there for bits of cryptic story/atmosphere.
When I found the first one I totally thought it was an easter egg that was hidden.

[kastanok]

Theory below:

Spoiler below!

The text they produce seems to be thoughts or journal records from Alexander: one mentions the reaction of other members of the Order of the Black Eagle to his presence, and the speaker describes himself as 'that Alexander their fathers knew' or something to that effect.

[Klarden]

I think they might be a connection to the Penumbra world or some "Frictional Games universe" since they serve the same purpose - hold the memories of people who touch them

[Headhanger]

I agree with HamStar's idea. That was my initial hypothesis. A link between the games.

I didn't see any orbs in Penumbra though. So perhaps the two types of artefact are not related, even though both of them are obviously very powerful.