Friday, February 20, 2015

Generasi.me Does Interactive Family Timelines

I took some time today to look over the RootsTech 2015 Innovator Challenge submissions page because I wondered if there were other submissions that might work with the FamilySearch Family Tree.

One suvmission that caught my eye was Generasi.me - a site that "replays the timeline of your ancestors' lives."  I liked the color too (you know, a "bright shiny object" attracts my attention).


I watched the short submission video, and it looked pretty cool - it works with the FamilySearch Family Tree, and shows me which relatives of an ancestor are alive in a given year.

I decided to try it out, so I signed in with my FamilySearch credentials, and it opened with me in the center column.  There are five columns - grandparents, parents, siblings, children and grandchildren:


I navigated back in time to Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) and the program showed me Isaac, starting in 1823 (the year is on the right-hand margin):


In 1823, three of Isaac's four grandparents, his two parents, and two siblings were alive (they are shown with a beige background, meaning they are alive), and it shows their ages.

I advanced the timeline (by scrolling down) to the year 1860, and now Isaac's family starts to appear:


In 1860, his four grandparents have died, his mother is still alive, three of his siblings are alive, his first wife has died, and his other two wives are alive, and he has four children alive, but no grandchildren yet.

Advancing the year to 1880, Isaac starts to have grandchildren:


In the year 1900, Isaac is the last of his generation, with his third wife, has four of his five children alive, and has seven grandchildren alive:


Of course, the presentation depends on accurate data for persons in the FamilySearch Family Tree.

I like the concept - a user can quickly determine which family members are alive in a specific year.

Generasi did not make the semi-final selections, perhaps because it worked with the FamilySearch Family Tree and has limited appeal for investors because there is no real opportunity to turn it into a profitable business.  But it is a neat idea and a cool application!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/02/generasime-does-interactive-family.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver


1 comment:

Jana Iverson Last said...

Randy,

Thanks for sharing this site. I tried it and it looks pretty cool.

I want to let you know that three of your blog posts are listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2015/02/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-february-27.html

Have a great weekend!