【April Dream】Aiming to Realize a Remote Care Society that Supports the “Comfortable Distance” Between Parents and Children Living Apart

■ Supporting well-being from a distance while protecting current lifestyles

When care becomes necessary, many families face the dilemma of whether to live together. However, for generations with current lives to protect, such as work and childcare, co-residence or leaving a job for caregiving is not an easy choice. Parents wish to "not leave their familiar home," and children are torn by the responsibility to "maintain their current living environment." It is not uncommon for families, who care deeply for each other, to suffer heartache from care arrangements that can only be sustained by one party making excessive sacrifices.

We aim for a society where people can maintain their current living environment and stay connected with peace of mind, even when living apart. A future where both caregivers and those receiving care can support each other without disrupting their own pace of life. We want to create a future where such an infrastructure for living is commonplace.

■ What is yottey?

yottey is a day-calendar app that gently reminds individuals with disorientation, an early symptom of dementia, about "what day it is and what to do today," acting as a substitute for family members' verbal prompts.

• Reassurance through "now": In response to repeated anxieties like "What day is it?" or "What am I supposed to do?", yottey gently presents "now."

• Verbal prompts by proxy: Schedules entered by family members become gentle guides for parents, such as "Please do this at this time." It creates a sense of security as if someone is speaking next to them, even when living apart.

• Subtraction design: To ensure that individuals with dementia can intuitively recognize information without confusion, we have adopted a unique interface that minimizes the amount of information to the extreme.

yottey supports the independent living of parents while giving shape to the family's wish to "watch over them."

■ A Product Born from Research, and Demanded by Society

Our product, "yottey," was born from a public research project. At the presentation of research results at the National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, urgent voices were heard, asking, "Can this not be made into a product?" and "I want to use it." We took on the baton of commercialization, which was difficult for a research institution.

When we commercialized it, it was during the COVID-19 pandemic. We too were in a state of uncertainty, but with the sole thought that "if there are so many people who need this," we decided to launch yottey into the world.

■ "Without yottey, it would have been difficult for my parent to live at home."

Two years since its release, the number of paid users continues to rise. What supports us most are the heartfelt messages of gratitude from our users.

These words are proof that our dream is not just a dream, but is genuinely protecting someone's life. Sharing schedules and gently watching over from afar. This small accumulation transforms into great peace of mind, enabling families to continue their lives and work in their own way. We are convinced that yottey is a tool that redefines family bonds into comfortable connections.

■ Our Vision for the Future of Remote Care Society

Our dream is not just for yottey to become widespread. We envision a future where yottey and many other remote care products become commonplace infrastructure, enabling everyone to stress-free choose their own lifestyle, in their desired place, with their own hands.

While there is a path to "cherish loved ones and live together," there is also a path to "cherish current lives and support each other from a distance," which is respected as a matter of course.

Even if there is physical distance, technology gently fills that gap, allowing both parents and children to maintain their daily peace in their respective places. The realization of such a society where each individual's way of life is respected, a truly symbiotic society, a "comfortable remote care society." That is our April Dream.

*Images are usage examples generated by AI.

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About us

【Softdevice Co., Ltd.】

【yottey Project】