As a newcomer to the annual "best of" list from Family Tree, premiering in the category of "genealogy tech tools," the publisher said Artifcts is "worthy of royal recognition" among the “crown jewels” of online family history. We'll take it! 

For those of you who may also be new to the world of genealogy, this honor is a surprise for the recipients. Family Tree's team undertakes its own, super-secret research before launching the news.

"These are the delightful surprises that mean so much to a startup. We are very deeply honored by this recognition," said co-founder and CEO Heather Nickerson. "We want to ensure it's as easy and fun as possible to take a look a fresh look at all the 'stuff,' from family heirlooms to genealogy gems, and capture the family histories and moments in a way that will engage the whole family across generations."

"What she said! We congratulate all of the honorees and look forward to getting to know more of them. Please go and explore them all. There's something for everyone," said co-founder and CSO Ellen Goodwin.

Family Tree's 101 Best Genealogy websites are organized into the following categories. Dive in!

• • Best "Big" Genealogy Websites
  • Best Family Tree and Sharing Websites
  • Best US and Canadian Genealogy Websites
  • Best Genealogy News Websites and Blogs
  • Best Genealogy Tech Tools (including Artifcts!)
  • Best Genetic Genealogy Websites
  • Best Cemetery Websites
  • Best African American Genealogy Websites
  • Best Geography and Historical Map Websites
  • Best Military Records Websites
  • Best Historical Newspaper Websites
  • Best Genealogy Websites for Asia and the Pacific
  • Best European Genealogy Websites
  • Best UK and Irish Websites

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© 2023 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

In the post-COVID pandemic era, we all tend to look at what it means to be and stay connected from a whole new lens. Today we're proud to announce that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has recognized Artifcts with an award for "helping promote social engagement to improve individual's health and sense of well-being."

"We are honored by this recognition from HHSC and delighted to see other friends from the AgeTech space among the award recipients. We're grateful, too, to learn of other award recipients who we have not yet crossed paths with. Time to cross paths!" said Austin-based co-founder of Artifcts Ellen Goodwin. 

The {Name}Tech space that intersects with the desires and needs of the oldest among us is expanding at an astonishing clip. News coverage, accelerators, and even investors covering AgeTech and LongeviTech are becoming much more common. And what's still more interesting are the crossovers of those areas into InsurTech, FinTech, and PropTech, to name a few. Hubs of innovation are being spurred and supported from AARP AgeTech Collaborative (based in DC), Fintech for Longevity (based in Israel), Aging 2.0 (globally), AgeTech Atlanta, and more. Harmonizing it all are the entrepreneurs and their collective interest in building something better than what we're facing now as seniors, as caregivers, and even the youngest among us.

"While we did not launch Artifcts when we did because of the pandemic, it certainly shifted how we launched Artifcts. It sharpened our focus and our realism - we knew that to build a product that would truly change our relationships with stuff and the joys, value, and burden stuff can carry with it, we had to do it with people of all age in mind, but especially the oldest among us. Time is never our friend. How do we make it easier to connect and share with peers and across generations, while keeping privacy at the forefront? That's at the heart of Artifcts." said Artifcts co-founder Heather Nickerson.

And should you be tempted to dismiss the power of connection, don't do it. As highlighted by Dr. Vivek Murthy, US Surgeon General, in his advisory report issued earlier this month, loneliness and isolation put us at greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. Dr. Murthy calls on everyone to tackle this epidemic of loneliness and isolation: "Start now, in our own lives, strengthening our connections and relationships."

Look for Artifcts to continue efforts to expand its footprint in Texas communities as well as other local ecosystems, including through its participation in the MeHI Healthy Aging Challenge.

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© 2023 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Massachusetts Digital Health (MeHI) has chosen Artifcts and seven other companies to participate in a two-month sandbox program this spring to support innovation related to healthy aging, including physical, mental, and/or social health. Two of the other finalists are also AARP AgeTech Collaborative companies. Read the full announcement from MeHI here.

Artifcts will meet with leading researchers, MassDigital Ecosystem organizations including state agencies, venture capitalists, and other innovators creating digital health solutions that improve the lives of older adults to help scope a brain health research project. At the conclusion of the Sandbox program, Artifcts will pitch its product and Sandbox research project for the opportunity to win $50,000 to complete the project.

"We're excited! MeHI is trying to help accelerate the innovation lifecycle by making the introductions, sharing the lessons learned, and helping companies develop research theses with fewer brick walls. We're here and ready to continue supporting and playing a role in the health aging ecosystem," said Heather Nickerson, Co-founder and CEO of Artifcts.

Research has already established that social engagement and sense of purpose are critical at all ages, especially those with diagnoses that affect brain health. Together with MassDigital our research could yield data to support our existing anecdotal observations that Artifcts helps with social connection, bolsters sense of purpose, and combats loneliness. We could also explore the memory recall aspect of Artifcting and its clinical effects. Any Artifct can rely on a combination of short- and long-term memory recall, e.g., mementos and photos from their youth as well as those that are more recent photos, mementos, and artistic creations. How does this recall-based experience affect the quality of life for those living with dementia, potentially including: mood, resiliency to day-to-day frustrations, interest in other social engagements, and cooperative care behaviors?

"Artifcts is not your run of the mill book or app asking you to record stories and memories from general questions. Artifcts are inherently autobiographical and start with an object or photo. Only you know and can write or orate the story/description for your own Artifct," said Ellen Goodwin, Co-founder and CSO of Artifcts. "This means that you could, in theory, use the structured and unstructured data inherent to the Artifct as input for machine learning to observe changes in vocabulary, sentence structure, detail level, sentiment, and even voice. Could detecting these changes reveal changes in brain health or alert people to potential cognitive impairment? Could the model become predictive, too? We'd love to find out!"

Stay tuned as we proceed through the MassDigital program to select a research partner from the Massachusetts Digital Health Ecosystem to pitch MeHI at MIT on June 28 for funding to support our future research into brain health! Local? RSVP to come watch!

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© 2023 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.