Digital Mosaic - The Next Generation of Legacy Story Telling

The Digital Mosaic App Offers Families a New Way to Connect and Remember

One of the most important questions we face, as we age, is what we will be leaving behind.

What do we have to offer to future generations? 

What wisdom or memories can we share that will make someone smile or help them out in their own lives?

Natalie Bauman of Digital Mosaic has worked with a team of developers to take this age-old question into the modern age with an app that’s ease of use enables users young and old to participate.

A Love Of Story Telling

Bauman’s story-telling roots are in the world of professional video production, but as much as she loved creating these meaningful works, she found that the cost and time commitment were outside of many people’s budgets. “In my professional video-producing career,” Bauman shared, “I started telling family stories, and it was a really incredible experience. Families really enjoyed being able to see their family members telling their stories in their own voice, in their own words, seeing the expressions that were so endearing and special about that person, especially with seniors. When they were no longer with their family, it was an incredible legacy that the family was able to carry forward so that the grandkids would always be able to share it with their kids. I loved doing those, but the problem is that they’re kind of expensive and, frankly, not everyone has that kind of budget, nor does the video production piece of it work with the immediacy of when people want a published story. They don’t want to wait until they can book a video producer and find the right person and find the money; they want to do it when they want to do it. So, I was determined to figure out a way to make video story telling and legacy story telling become immediate, instantly accessible, really fun and easy to use, and affordable.”

That’s how Bauman came up with the idea for Digital Mosaic. “It’s an online story-telling tool,” she went on, “that uses the native video production elements that are available in your iPhone or iPad—for right now, and we’ll expand to other devices down the road. It uses those video capture tools to tell the stories using our guided app. A lot of people want to tell their story but don’t know how to start, so we give them a series of questions that they can then use. It’s really fun and easy to use, and it gets immediately uploaded to a private cloud page.” Footage that you capture through the app is easily reviewed and uploaded to a private site, shared only with those whom you have invited to participate, and all at the tap of a few buttons—a much easier way to upload and share video that the multiple step process involved in uploading to YouTube.

Digital Mosaic has had its initial launch in nursing home facilities in the greater Cleveland area, and the company is prepping for a full release to the public and families everywhere in Summer 2015. “We’re working really closely with those in nursing home facilities, as well as those with Alzheimer’s or dementia. … Instead of the family hearing, ‘Your mom had a great morning, I’m sorry you couldn’t see it,’ it’s an email that says, ‘Here, let me show you.” Bauman likes to call the new Digital Mosaic app “a video producer in your pocket.” “It’s not something you have to plan in advance,” she said. “You can be sitting at dinner with your family and say, ‘Oh! This conversation is something I really want to share and save.’ So you record it, you share it on your collaborative network, you decide who gets to be part of it, and then all of a sudden you have this amazing tool that connects families as well as preserving your stories.” And it’s not limited to being viewed online.

Available options will allow users to create DVDs or transfer to a flash drive. “It’s a two-way communication tool. It’s not just recording the life stories of one person that can be shared with many people; it’s many people who are in collective groups—a family, an organization, what have you—telling their stories and bringing them into one place that’s private and secure to be shared with other people. So then, the family could be downloading those and creating DVDs on a regular basis; it can be sent to a flash drive and used as part of a presentation for a birthday party or anniversary, or many other types of family oriented meetings or get-togethers.”

Digital Mosaic sounds like a wonderful tool for creating unique and meaningful family heirlooms. We look forward to checking it out this summer! ------

Here at HandyPro, we make your well-being our priority. Our interview series goes hand-in-hand with that effort, and we hope you find it helpful! For more information on how we can help you make your home a home for life, visit us at www.StayAtHomeModificationsInc.com or call me (Brian Pritchard) at 216-212-7531.

If you’d like to learn more about Digital Mosaic, you can find them on the web at www.TheDigitalMosaic.com, or reach them by phone at 216-570-0955.

To listen to our full conversation, which included a section on another passion project of Natalie's, the Remembering Project (which you can watch HERE), please click on the audio player below...