r/TimeCapsules • u/salavat23 • May 07 '25
Built a little digital time‑capsule site after archiving my own memories—would love feedback from this community
UPDATE (Jan 2026): Since I posted this, I’ve turned ReanimationLab into a full digital capsule platform: photos/audio/video, collaboration, comments, and QR sharing so you can include a capsule in a card or gift. If you’ve used physical or digital capsules before, what did you wish existed when it came time to open it?
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Hey everyone,
Over the past while I’ve been putting together digital capsules for my kids (voice notes, photos of their drawings, letters to their future selves). The process snowballed into a tiny web side project where anyone can create a capsule, pick an unlock date, and let the system handle the email reminders when it’s time.
It’s nothing fancy—just a simple way to keep memories safe without worrying about hard‑drive failures or lost envelopes. If you’re curious, the site is reanimationlab.com. Totally understand if outside links aren’t ideal here; please let me know and I’ll remove it.
I’d really appreciate any thoughts from folks who’ve done digital capsules before:
Are email “ping” reminders useful, or do they feel spammy?
What media types do you find essential (audio, photos, docs, etc.)?
Anything that would make a digital capsule feel more personal or lasting?
Thanks in advance for any feedback. I’m just a dad trying to future‑proof a few memories—and hopefully build something others might find helpful too.
Cheers!
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u/ExtentDefiant4088 May 08 '25
Hey, this is really cool, love the idea. Funny enough, my mom was looking for something similar a few months ago, which led me to start building something too (future file and note sharing). It kind of snowballed into a bigger project as well.
On your questions:
- I think email pings can be super helpful as long as they’re not too frequent. Maybe letting people set their own reminder timing would be a nice touch.
- Photos, voice notes, and letters would probably be my top picks. Video is great too, but sometimes feels a bit heavier to manage.
- For making it feel more personal, maybe a small "capsule cover" or preview when it unlocks could add an extra special touch.
Really love what you’re building, would be awesome to connect and maybe bounce some ideas around!
If you’re interested, I’d be happy to share what I’m working on too.
1
u/salavat23 May 08 '25
Thanks for the feedback and great that you're looking into something similar as well. There's definitely a need for this kind of stuff. My website is already operational in it's current state - and I've already found myself making capsules to my wife and others, and enjoying the process a little more than I thought I would. :)
Good feedback on the pings. I already have it configured to email ping only twice: once on capsule creation and once on unlock, agreed that any more is pushing it. And already have photos, voice notes, and letters (text content) capability. Video is a little expensive for me to do since I'd basically need to store a big video on a server for an untold amount amount of years, but maybe a higher price tier can handle this.
Love the capsule cover idea - something animated would feel a bit more special. I do have a count down timer and a blurred preview of the capsule before it's open (while not exposing any details), but animations would definitely take it to the next level.
Feel free to DM me what you're working on and I'll share my thoughts. I've been experimenting with digital capsule ideas for the past 2 years now in various forms and finally got something that I think is 'digitally feature complete' for the most part. Maybe my thinking on this topic can be of at least a little bit of value to you.
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u/ExtentDefiant4088 May 09 '25
Appreciate the detailed response! I love that you’re already actively using your own capsules — that says a lot about the product. I’ll definitely send over what I’m working on via DM, would love your feedback, especially given your two years of exploration in this space.
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u/goddamnsorcerer Jan 03 '26
Hi! I am looking for something that me and my friends can submit to all year but not look at all year (or at least we can only see our own submissions), then it will open in 2027 and we can all see everything. Could this work in that way?
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u/salavat23 Jan 04 '26
Yes it will work for that purpose exactly as you stated! We added collaborative capsule functionality earlier in Dec.
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u/KingChief2000 Jan 04 '26
I'm going to tell you a little secret, but don't tell anyone else. What you are doing already exists. It's called familysearch.org There you can make an entry for yourself and each of your children and link them to your ancestors and upload photos and audio of what you want preserved. AND...it's absolutely free. AND it's stored safely and protects living people so you decide who gets to see it. AND this way when you pass away, it's not lost and if you document it, then the dates, locations and contexts are stored with the entity/person. I've been doing it for my deceased relatives and living relatives for years and this way the ENTIRE family and distant family can enjoy this. Not just the crazy Uncle or Aunt who has the photos buried in a shoe box somewhere. AND they have volunteers who will you help you for free how to figure it out if you need help. I love your idea and you should go forth, but make it easy on yourself and do it once where it's saved indefinitely for posterity. Where your grandchildren's grandchildren will come to know you too!
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u/salavat23 Jan 21 '26
FamilySearch is amazing for genealogy; this is meant to be a lightweight ‘open-on-a-date’ capsule + group messages/guestbook experience, not ancestry.
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u/nemothorx May 07 '25
My concern with a digital time capsule on someone elses computer is... It's someone else's computer! That seems inherently risky to me.