Box Maison - A study on the web, where others share your time.
by•
I think a study is a space where you feel whole.
Play a song you love. Read. Pin a note. Write something. It's a place to set down the things you love and want to keep close — a place to spend time nourishing who you are, and storing it away.
Everything you do in this room — walking around, placing things — syncs to other users in real time, so you're welcome to use it to connect. But every feature was built for facing things alone — for keeping a margin of your own.
Replies
Hello, PH!
Box Maison is a 2D metaverse tool.
Here's the demo room — no login needed, so I'd be happy if you wandered around a bit:
https://bmaison.cc/@sasau/mini-library
It's a room that looks like a small library full of old books, but that's not the only thing this tool is meant for. What I'd rather you imagine is a different kind of use: a few favorite books on a shelf in your own room, with an essay you wrote sitting right beside them.
Honestly, it might look bare. But I've been polishing each feature to reduce, as far as I can, the friction between you and the things you loved enough to place here. At the same time, the avatar's walking speed is there to slow your browsing down. The tool carries both intentions at once.
I launched Box Maison on Product Hunt about a year ago. It got around 12 upvotes — which, for a demo app with no login, where all you could do was walk on screenshots of web pages and leave ephemeral flowers, honestly felt like more than it deserved.
I've spent this past year happily building it into a room that holds up as a private space: passkey login and device management, notes, cabinets, an AI concierge, campfires, a jukebox, a corkboard, a bookshelf, and more.
If you're wondering what each of these actually does, just ask the AI concierge in the room.
Give it a try — I'd love to hear what you think.
Dropped a few links and watching them bounce around as little colored boxes was oddly satisfying. The no-sign-up flow is great, just landed in a room and started poking around.
@kaz_m73718 Thank you for wandering in! The URL boxes were actually the very first thing I built — the whole idea started with "what if you could keep websites you love in a room, just to look at." Glad the no-sign-up door worked as intended: a library you have to register for didn't feel like a library to me.
Dropped in without an account and immediately saw my screenshot sitting on the floor with someone else's box drifting nearby. The flowers are a surprisingly nice touch.
@duran257125 That drifting box was another visitor sharing the room with you in real time — that's honestly my favorite part to hear about. And thank you for noticing the flowers. They fade, they do nothing, there's no reason for them. I just hoped leaving one would feel like something. Apparently it does.
dropped a portfolio link and watched someone else's screen pop up next to mine, kind of weirdly cool honestly
@kuzeyatmac1qeh Originally I wanted to embed the actual pages as iframes, but that wasn't realistic, so the server takes a screenshot and displays it safely instead. There's also a subtle parallax effect tucked into how they're rendered — I honestly can't explain why I was so particular about that part, even to myself. Thanks for leaving something behind!
The no-account entry just works, and seeing other users' boxes glide around the floor in real time makes it feel like a tiny gallery rather than another link dump. Love that ephemeral touch with the flowers.
@kkocatepe59352 My first motivation was giving URLs something like a physical presence, so they could be placed side by side — so "gallery" is exactly what I hoped would come across. As for the flowers: sometimes you do want things to stay as a number, like the upvotes here. But I think disappearing matters too.
It'd be really cool if rooms could persist as shareable links that anyone can revisit, even after the creator leaves. Right now it feels like the space disappears when the host goes, which makes it hard to share a portfolio or gallery with people who aren't online at the same time. Maybe a "keep room open" toggle for the creator would work.
@farukjrew
Good news: that's already how it works. Every room is a permanent URL — this demo room stays open whether I'm there or not, and everything stays where it was placed. Persistence is kind of the whole point: things you put down are still there when someone visits tomorrow. No toggle needed. Come check — I'm probably not there, and the room will be.
love that the colored boxes moving in real time make the whole space feel like a tiny little gallery you can wander through, and the no-account drop-a-link thing is such a nice low-friction move.
@pelinhasbolkpt Thank you — wander in anytime. The room stays open even when nobody's there.
Loving the no-signup vibe and the realtime box movement is a really nice touch. One thing that would help: add a way to claim a spot on the floor for your own portfolio so visitors can find you again later, maybe with a little floating name tag or arrow pointing to your box.
@hamzay5w7 What you're describing is pretty much what making an account gives you: your own room at your own URL, where whatever you place stays put — portfolio included. The demo floor is shared ground, but your room is yours; people can revisit it anytime, whether you're there or not. The name tag exists too — everything you place shows who put it there.