RootsTech 2023 Innovation and Tech Forum Highlights

New innovations and technologies continue to shape and advance the way we discover, share, and gain insights into memories of the past and family relationships. This year's RootsTech Innovation and Tech Forum presented the latest on what the future holds for software and services that help us with the ever-increasing amounts of data from the past.

Below, you'll find summaries of participating industry leaders. Click on the heading or image of each to go to their website. Don't forget, if you missed the session you can access it from the RootsTech on-demand video library.

Video Messaging - Helping Families Feel Close

Marco Polo (USA) is a popular messaging app that brings authenticity and everyday joy to your closest relationships. Referring to social media platforms today, Vlada Bortnik, co-founder and CEO of Marco Polo, said: "Communication lost focus. It became entertainment. We can do better". And that is exactly what Marco Polo strives to do, as they make family, relationships, and your well being a primary focus, inherent in the platform itself.

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Computer Generated Trees

FamilySearch (USA) has been using computing power to help us create complex connections across millions of records in a matter of hours versus thousands of hours. Five new computer-generated collections are now available, including Tasmania, Australia; Santa Catarina, Brazil; Pangasinan, Philippines; Nuevo Leon, Mexico and Abruzzo, Italy.

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Using AI to Help Write Your Story

Storied (USA) is a new Storytelling Platform offering an advanced way to tell your stories that go beyond just family.

"We believe that collaborative storytelling and relationships outside of the family tree are ready to change the way family history is both consumed and conducted." - Finn Larson, Storied

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Using Blockchain to Preserve Family Heritage

Bank of Memories (Ukraine) lets you decentralize your data, giving you more control over preserving your family tree. Your data is encapsulated into blocks that build your digital copy in the universe.

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Relationship Recognition through Photos

KinSame (Israel) can analyze and calculate family relationships from family photos, and build out a family tree from a family photo. The technology can also estimate the degree of kinship between 2 people.

Cross-Database DNA Matching

GenXT (England) offers a way to bridge the barrier between various DNA services. "Companies can find relatives for their customers in each others databases without any genomic data disclosure." - Stas Nikolskiy, GenXT.

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Augmented Reality Storytelling

Ericsson (Sweden) offers an "open augmented reality storytelling studio that gives you the power to create immersive experiences more easily than ever before." - Ericsson

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MacFamilyTree - Apple "App of the Year"

Synium Software (Germany) provides a Mac, iPad and iPhone app to build your family tree with stunning visualizations that are immersive and engaging.

"MacFamilyTree is not just the most feature-rich genealogy app on the market, but it's also the most beautiful and innovative one." - Benjamin Gunther, Synium Software

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Time Traveling using A.I.

MyHeritage (Israel) - has a new AI Time Machine™ feature that uses Artificial Intelligence to create imaginary images of a person, depicting how they may have looked in different periods throughout history.

"AI Time Machine draws a new audience into genealogy... people are saying that it shows them how much they resemble their ancestors." - Maya Lerner, MyHeritage

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Watch Forum Videos from 2023 and More

The Innovation and Tech Forum is offered every year at RootsTech, the world's largest genealogy conference. For a broader look at how technology is changing in the genealogy industry, or to see even more innovations, feel free to watch the forum videos from past years: