# Ryan® CompanionBot for Assisting Older Adults with Early-Stage Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia

> **NIH NIH SB1** · DREAM FACE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC · 2024 · $1,424,731

## Abstract

The population of Americans age 65 years or older will increase from 58 million in 2021 to 88 million by 2050.
By 2050, nearly 14 million older adults are expected to have AD/ADRD. For these individuals, significant care is
required, and that care is often provided by family members. A 2022 study estimated that 11 million American
family members are providing 16 billion hours of care valued at more than $272 billion. Senior care facilities are
another option. The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected senior care facility residents. Despite representing
only about 1% of the total population in the U.S., COVID-19 deaths in senior care facilities have made up nearly
40% of total COVID-19 deaths. Senior care facilities often face staffing shortages during and after the pandemic.
Currently, 3 in 5 assisted living facilities are concerned that they may have to close due to staffing shortages.
The situation with these two caregiving options is alarming; increasing demand for caregivers coupled with short
supply has led to higher costs, unfilled needs, and fierce competition for resources. While computer technologies,
such as wearable devices, are beginning to partially alleviate the shortage of caregivers, more powerful and
personalized tools are needed. To address this urgent need, DreamFace Technologies, LLC invented Ryan®
CompanionBot, a novel humanoid socially-assistive robot expertly tailored to the specific needs of older adults
with early-stage AD/ADRD. The development of Ryan®, with the support of one NSF and two NIA/NIH SBIR
grants, has been informed by 100 customer interviews and several subsequent field tests and clinical trials
involving more than 50 older adults with early-stage AD/ADRD. In these tests, Ryan® has effectively delivered
companionship, engaging conversations, physical and mental stimulation, daily activity reminders, and valuable
assistance to the AD/ADRD-afflicted seniors powered by state-of-the-art artificial intelligence technologies such
as facial expression recognition and synthesis, brain games, and empathic conversations while we also learned
about several additional capabilities required for commercial success. Furthermore, in the pre-launch phase of
the initial version of Ryan®, it has been deployed on a subscription basis at the esteemed senior care facility,
Morningstar, which has served as a valuable beta site. In this Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) program,
we plan to complete the preparation of Ryan® for full commercialization. Specifically, we will: (1) refine and
enhance Ryan®'s software and hardware, making mass manufacturing more efficient and cost-effective while
making Ryan®'s operation more robust and easier to adopt by family members, staff, administrators, and
caregivers in senior care facilities, (2) develop robust, integrated marketing and sales strategies, (3) develop an
Intellectual Property strategy and required privacy policy and legal documents and (4) develop a financing and
fundraising st...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10922132
- **Project number:** 1SB1AG087755-01
- **Recipient organization:** DREAM FACE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Mohammad Mahoor
- **Activity code:** SB1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,424,731
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-03-01 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10922132

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10922132, Ryan® CompanionBot for Assisting Older Adults with Early-Stage Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia (1SB1AG087755-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10922132. Licensed CC0.

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