SB1AG082634
Project Grant
Overview
Grant Description
A State-of-the-Art Automatic Speech Recognition and Conversational Platform to Enable Socially Assistive Robots for Persons with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias - Abstract
This Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) by Care.Coach Corporation (Millbrae, CA) requests funds for late-stage research and development and technical assistance for a conversational technology driven by artificial intelligence (AI) that was developed with and for older adults, especially those aging with Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias (ADRD).
Past work has resulted in a socially assistive robot (SAR) and virtual health assistant overseen by humans that improves health outcomes and reduces loneliness in older adults at a lower cost of care. Customer loyalty is world-class and far exceeds Net Promotor Scores (NPS) for well-known conversational agents, attesting to the product's commercial potential.
Moreover, active Phase II funding (5R44AG0620-14-03) has resulted in an automated speech recognition (ASR) engine that is more accurate in understanding truly natural speech by older adults, including those with ADRD, than major conversational AI platforms. This is significant given the inherent challenges that the speech of older adults, especially of those with ADRD, poses to conversational AI due to normal age-related neurological changes or brain pathology associated with ADRD.
Leveraging these advances and innovations, Care.Coach is preparing for rapid growth and has attracted considerable interest from insurers, corporate development arms of large insurers, and traditional investors. To successfully scale, we propose to re-platform our current system on top of an enterprise-grade, integrated knowledge solution enabled by KIE, an open-source platform powered by KIE's Drools/jBPM rules and process engines.
The KIE platform has revolutionized enterprise operations and has been adopted in healthcare to drive quality and efficiency with applications ranging from the adjudication of health insurance claims to the implementation of clinical decision support systems. In addition to business process automation, the cost of goods sold (COGS) will come down with full conversational automation in allowable use cases by training and using a large language model.
Both capabilities will be developed in the proposed CRP using state-of-the-art technical approaches and will be evaluated for performance and acceptance in a replication study with ADRD patients in partnership with a health plan and medical providers that serve a large, diverse elderly population.
This technical assistance and late-stage development will deliver a state-of-the-art, consumer-facing conversational agent and virtual health assistant driven by a technology platform with industrial production and automation methods that ensure consistent and scalable digital health service delivery and manufacturing, and that meet the highest security and consumer satisfaction standards.
The overall goal is to improve the health and well-being of millions of Americans within 5 years, including those aging with ADRD.
This Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) by Care.Coach Corporation (Millbrae, CA) requests funds for late-stage research and development and technical assistance for a conversational technology driven by artificial intelligence (AI) that was developed with and for older adults, especially those aging with Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias (ADRD).
Past work has resulted in a socially assistive robot (SAR) and virtual health assistant overseen by humans that improves health outcomes and reduces loneliness in older adults at a lower cost of care. Customer loyalty is world-class and far exceeds Net Promotor Scores (NPS) for well-known conversational agents, attesting to the product's commercial potential.
Moreover, active Phase II funding (5R44AG0620-14-03) has resulted in an automated speech recognition (ASR) engine that is more accurate in understanding truly natural speech by older adults, including those with ADRD, than major conversational AI platforms. This is significant given the inherent challenges that the speech of older adults, especially of those with ADRD, poses to conversational AI due to normal age-related neurological changes or brain pathology associated with ADRD.
Leveraging these advances and innovations, Care.Coach is preparing for rapid growth and has attracted considerable interest from insurers, corporate development arms of large insurers, and traditional investors. To successfully scale, we propose to re-platform our current system on top of an enterprise-grade, integrated knowledge solution enabled by KIE, an open-source platform powered by KIE's Drools/jBPM rules and process engines.
The KIE platform has revolutionized enterprise operations and has been adopted in healthcare to drive quality and efficiency with applications ranging from the adjudication of health insurance claims to the implementation of clinical decision support systems. In addition to business process automation, the cost of goods sold (COGS) will come down with full conversational automation in allowable use cases by training and using a large language model.
Both capabilities will be developed in the proposed CRP using state-of-the-art technical approaches and will be evaluated for performance and acceptance in a replication study with ADRD patients in partnership with a health plan and medical providers that serve a large, diverse elderly population.
This technical assistance and late-stage development will deliver a state-of-the-art, consumer-facing conversational agent and virtual health assistant driven by a technology platform with industrial production and automation methods that ensure consistent and scalable digital health service delivery and manufacturing, and that meet the highest security and consumer satisfaction standards.
The overall goal is to improve the health and well-being of millions of Americans within 5 years, including those aging with ADRD.
Awardee
Funding Goals
TO ENCOURAGE BIOMEDICAL, SOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING DIRECTED TOWARD GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE AGING PROCESS AND THE DISEASES, SPECIAL PROBLEMS, AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE AS THEY AGE. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING HAS ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO PURSUE THESE GOALS. THE DIVISION OF AGING BIOLOGY EMPHASIZES UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF AGING. THE DIVISION OF GERIATRICS AND CLINICAL GERONTOLOGY SUPPORTS RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE ABILITIES OF HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS TO RESPOND TO THE DISEASES AND OTHER CLINICAL PROBLEMS OF OLDER PEOPLE. THE DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH SUPPORTS RESEARCH THAT WILL LEAD TO GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT BOTH THE PROCESS OF GROWING OLD AND THE PLACE OF OLDER PEOPLE IN SOCIETY. THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE FOSTERS RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH THE AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE RELATED SENSORY, PERCEPTUAL, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH AGING AND HAS A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding / Funding Agency
Place of Performance
Millbrae,
California
940303118
United States
Geographic Scope
Single Zip Code
Related Opportunity
Analysis Notes
Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 163% from $1,298,083 to $3,420,427.
Friendi.Fi Corporation was awarded
Advanced Conversational AI Socially Assistive Robots in Alzheimer's Care
Project Grant SB1AG082634
worth $3,420,427
from National Institute on Aging in May 2023 with work to be completed primarily in Millbrae California United States.
The grant
has a duration of 3 years and
was awarded through assistance program 93.866 Aging Research.
The Project Grant was awarded through grant opportunity SBIR/STTR Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) Program Technical Assistance and Late Stage Development (SB1, Clinical Trial Not Allowed).
SBIR Details
Research Type
SBIR Phase II
Title
A State-of-the-Art Automatic Speech Recognition and Conversational Platform to Enable Socially Assistive Robots for Persons with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
Abstract
ABSTRACT This commercialization readiness pilot (CRP) by care.coach corporation (Millbrae, CA) requests funds for late- stage research and development and technical assistance for a conversational technology driven by artificial intelligence (AI) that was developed with and for older adults, especially those aging with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Past work has resulted in a socially assistive robot (SAR) and virtual health assistant overseen by humans that improves health outcomes and reduces loneliness in older adults at a lower cost of care. Customer loyalty is world-class and far exceeds net promotor scores (NPS) for well-known conversational agents, attesting to the product’s commercial potential. Moreover, active Phase II funding (5R44AG0620-14-03) has resulted in an automated speech recognition (ASR) engine that is more accurate in understanding truly natural speech by older adults, including those with ADRD, than major conversional AI platforms. This is significant given the inherent challenges that the speech of older adults, especially of those with ADRD, poses to conversational AI due to normal age-related neurological changes or brain pathology associated with ADRD. Leveraging these advances and innovations, care.coach is preparing for rapid growth and has attracted considerable interest from insurers, corporate development arms of large insurers, and traditional investors. To successfully scale, we propose to re-platform our current system on top of an enterprise-grade, integrated knowledge solution enabled by KIE, an opensource platform powered by KIE’s Drools/jBPM rules and process engines. The KIE platform has revolutionized enterprise operations, and has been adopted in healthcare to drive quality and efficiency with applications ranging from the adjudication of health insurance claims to the implementation of clinical decision support systems. In addition to business process automation, the cost of goods sold (COGS) will come down with full conversational automation in allowable use cases by training and using a large language model. Both capabilities will be developed in the proposed CRP using state-of-the-art technical approaches, and will be evaluated for performance and acceptance in a replication study with ADRD patients in partnership with a health plan and medical providers that serve a large, diverse elderly population. This technical assistance and late-stage development will deliver a state-of-the-art, consumer-facing conversa- tional agent and virtual health assistant driven by a technology platform with industrial production and automa- tion methods that ensure consistent and scalable digital health service delivery and manufacturing, and that meet the highest security and consumer satisfaction standards. The overall goal is to improve the health and wellbeing of millions Americans within 5 years, including those aging with ADRD.
Topic Code
R
Solicitation Number
PAR20-129
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 7/25/25
Period of Performance
5/1/23
Start Date
4/30/26
End Date
Funding Split
$3.4M
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$3.4M
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Transaction History
Modifications to SB1AG082634
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
SB1AG082634
SAI Number
SB1AG082634-4217885090
Award ID URI
SAI UNAVAILABLE
Awardee Classifications
Small Business
Awarding Office
75NN00 NIH National Insitute on Aging
Funding Office
75NN00 NIH National Insitute on Aging
Awardee UEI
F7C3ALLZWYB6
Awardee CAGE
None
Performance District
CA-15
Senators
Dianne Feinstein
Alejandro Padilla
Alejandro Padilla
Budget Funding
| Federal Account | Budget Subfunction | Object Class | Total | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Health and Human Services (075-0843) | Health research and training | Grants, subsidies, and contributions (41.0) | $1,298,083 | 100% |
Modified: 7/25/25