How LifeMaps works

LifeMaps helps a family save the stories behind their things, in the voices of the people who tell them, and decide together what happens to each one. Go at your own pace, one room or one thing at a time.

Four steps

1. Walk through the house.Take a photo of each thing as you go. One recording runs the whole time, so nobody has to stop and start. Prefer to start small? Add a single thing instead.
2. Hear it in their own voice.Mom or Dad tells the story behind each thing. LifeMaps matches each part of the recording to the right photo, and you can check and adjust it. Libby, a gentle voice guide, can suggest a question when it goes quiet.
3. Decide together.For each thing, choose keep, pass on, sell, donate, toss or decide later. A parent's own wish is marked “Dad's wish” (or Mom's) and stays the plan. Everyone else's ideas show beside it as suggestions.
4. Tag it, so the story stays with the thing.Print a small story tag on label paper at home. When someone you've chosen scans it with their phone, they hear the story.

Three ways to see it

• Our home: rooms and the things in them, so you can find what's where.
• Plans: what happens to each thing, by plan or by person, and what still needs a decision.
• Album: every story in one place, to hear again and search.

Who does what

• The storyteller talks. They can use a simple screen on their own phone or tablet, with large text and big buttons, or just talk while someone else takes the photos. Recording only starts after they agree, and they can stop at any time or say something is private.
• The organizer sets up the home, invites the family and chooses who can hear each story.
• Family can add things, record stories and suggest plans.
• Listeners can hear the stories shared with them, and nothing more.

Real voices only

LifeMaps saves only real voices. Libby is a computer voice, not a person. She asks questions, but she never speaks for your family, never makes up a story and never imitates anyone's voice.

Private by default

Nothing is public. You choose who can see and hear each story, and you can download everything at any time. Read our privacy note.

Why we made it

LifeMaps started with one family. Cal built it with his dad, so the stories behind the things in his parents' house would be kept in his dad's own voice, and so the family could decide together what happens to each thing.