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ACILIA will be a low-cost kit with SaaS platform that integrates an embodied conversational agent using AI capabilities to provide educational information and emotional coping support

Award Number: R43AG069659
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

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ACILIA will be a low-cost kit with SaaS platform that integrates an embodied conversational agent using AI capabilities to provide educational information and emotional coping support - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Currently, 5.7 million people live with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) in the United States, and this number is projected to reach 13.8 million by 2050. Two-thirds of individuals with ADRD live at home and as a result, approximately 15 million unpaid care partners, mostly family members, are increasingly required to perform complex tasks which causes them significant stress. The major contributors to care partners’ stress are: 1) having low confidence in their competency in their caregiving tasks, such as managing activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and behavioral symptoms of ADRD as they change over the course of the disease and 2) being socially isolated with feelings of loneliness. Benten proposes to address these problems through creation of the Avatar Companion to Improve the Lives of Informal care partners of individuals with Alzheimer’s (ACILIA), a home kit with SaaS platform that integrates an embodied conversational agent using AI capabilities (i.e., emotion analysis, sentiment analysis and life-long machine learning [L3] algorithm), with home speakers, a smart watch, and mobile app, to support the CPs on the care journey. ACILIA will provide just-in--time guidance and support to care partners in addition to stage- appropriate education and training on how to manage caregiving tasks. It will also engage in natural conversations with the care partners detecting sentiments of stress and offering advice and support and connection to a virtual community. ACILIA aims to assist in reducing the family care partners’ stress levels by improving their competency and capabilities in providing care and by providing companionship and support, which will reflect positively on their quality of life and that of their loved ones living with ADRD and aging in place. During this Phase I project, we will develop of a prototype ACILIA using input from an advisory board of informal care partners and people living with ADRD. We will also conduct a pilot test for feasibility of ACILIA among 20 individuals who are in early-middle stage ADRD and their informal care partners to evaluate the usability and acceptance of ACILIA prototype. Successful completion of Phase I will lead to Phase II and evaluating its outcomes. improving informal care partners’ competency, reducing their feeling of loneliness, and reducing their stress levels in an adequately powered randomized controlled trial (RCT).


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2025	2021	BENTEN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.	9408 GRANT AVE	MANASSAS	VA	20110	MANASSAS CITY	USA	Aging Research	000	2	12/31/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2024	2021	BENTEN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.	9408 GRANT AVE	MANASSAS	VA	20110	MANASSAS CITY	USA	Aging Research	000	2	10/14/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $196,867 )
2021	2021	BENTEN TECHNOLOGIES INC	9408 GRANT AVENUE, SUITE 206	MANASSAS	VA	20110	MANASSAS CITY	USA	Aging Research	001	2	7/8/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$196,867
2021	2020	BENTEN TECHNOLOGIES INC	9408 GRANT AVENUE, SUITE 206	MANASSAS	VA	20110	MANASSAS CITY	USA	Aging Research	000	1	5/28/2021	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $196,867

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $549,149 )
2020	2020	BENTEN TECHNOLOGIES INC	9408 GRANT AVENUE, SUITE 206	MANASSAS	VA	20110	MANASSAS CITY	USA	Aging Research	000	1	8/31/2020	NEW	$549,149
														Subtotal = $549,149

Grand Total All Awards = $746,016

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ACILIA will be a low-cost kit with SaaS platform that integrates an embodied conversational agent using AI capabilities to provide educational information and emotional coping support

Award Number: R43AG069659

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

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