AniMoment

Overview

AniMoment is a web application that transforms how we relate to the places we inhabit. Take a photo from your camera or photo library, and receive a gentle, spoken animist reading that honors the relational essence of everything around you—lake, tree, rock, soil, path, sky. Each reading is generated using AI vision technology, then spoken aloud, creating a moment of calm, grounded presence.

The app offers four distinct reading styles: Field Guide (structured and observational), Five Neighbors (five short vignettes of nearby beings), Elder Voice (lyrical and contemplative), and Direct Animist (conversational and grounded). Each reading concludes with a tiny 10-30 second practice to help you pause and notice what's here. Your last 20 moments are stored locally on your device, creating a personal archive of presence.

AniMoment is for anyone seeking a calmer, more relational way of being in place. No dogma, no cultural borrowing—just warm acknowledgment of the world as living matter expressing itself in infinite forms. Whether you're walking in nature, sitting in a park, or pausing in your daily routine, AniMoment invites you to greet the beings around you with presence and care.

Why we built it

In a world of constant noise and abstraction, we often move through places without truly noticing them. We see "scenery" or "environment" rather than recognizing that everything around us—water, stone, path, soil, tree—has presence and character. Ancient animist traditions understood this, but we wanted to create something contemporary and accessible, without appropriating specific cultural practices.

AniMoment emerged from a simple question: What if technology could help us slow down and pay attention? What if AI could serve not just productivity, but presence? By combining computer vision with carefully crafted prompts, we created a tool that gently guides users to see their surroundings as relational beings worthy of acknowledgment. It's not about belief or spirituality—it's about practicing a warmer, more grounded way of being in the world.

How it works

1. Capture or Upload: Open AniMoment in your browser and take a photo with your camera or upload one from your photo library. The image is automatically compressed client-side for privacy and efficiency.

2. Choose Your Style: Select from four reading variants—Field Guide (structured), Five Neighbors (vignettes), Elder Voice (lyrical), or Direct Animist (conversational). Each offers a different voice and approach.

3. AI Interpretation: The image is sent to GPT-4o-mini with vision, which analyzes what's present in the scene. Our carefully crafted prompts guide the AI to generate a warm, concrete reading that acknowledges specific beings (path, water, sky, stone, plants) with light personification.

4. Spoken Aloud: The reading is converted to speech using either your device's Web Speech API (free, on-device) or optional ElevenLabs voices (premium). The audio plays automatically while you can read along.

5. Save & Share: Your moment is automatically saved to IndexedDB (last 20 moments), and you can share it via your device's native share sheet (requires HTTPS on mobile).

The entire experience takes 5-10 seconds from photo to spoken reading, creating a gentle ritual of pause and presence wherever you are.

Feature highlights

• 📸 Camera & Photo Upload - Capture moments directly or upload from your library
• 🎭 Four Reading Styles - Choose Field Guide, Five Neighbors, Elder Voice, or Direct Animist
• 🔊 Spoken Aloud - Readings are automatically converted to speech for listening
• 💾 Local Storage - Last 20 moments saved privately in your browser (IndexedDB)
• 🌐 Web Share API - Share moments via your device's native share sheet
• 🌙 Wake Lock - Screen stays awake during audio playback
• 🎨 Beautiful, Calm UI - Earth tones, gentle gradients, and clear typography
• ⚡ Fast Generation - 5-10 seconds from photo to spoken reading
• 🔒 Privacy-First - Images compressed client-side; optional server TTS
• 🆓 Free to Use - Minimal API costs (~$0.001-0.003 per reading)

Notes

• Tech Stack: Built with Vite, TypeScript, Node.js, OpenAI GPT-4o-mini (vision), ElevenLabs (optional), Web Speech API, IndexedDB, and Web Share API
• For Whom: Seekers, walkers, contemplatives, nature lovers, mindfulness practitioners, and anyone curious about relating more warmly to their surroundings
• Approach: No dogma, no cultural borrowing—just calm acknowledgment of place as living presence
• Cost: ~$0.001-0.003 per reading with GPT-4o-mini; Web Speech API is free (on-device)
• Privacy: Images processed via OpenAI's API; no permanent storage server-side; all moments stored locally in your browser
• Roadmap: Place memory, time-aware readings, gentle ambient audio, "Dear Neighbor" social feed (opt-in), iOS native app, multi-language support