Candle: AI Communication Interpreter for Dementia Care

Over 55 million people worldwide live with dementia, and more than 70% of family caregivers report significant stress stemming from communication breakdown. As dementia progresses, patients lose the ability to express themselves clearly, creating emotional distance and a painful sense of disconnection from the people closest to them.
Candle is an AI-powered communication system designed to bridge that gap. By combining real-time speech cues(tone, pacing, word fragmentation) with personal history and evolving communication patterns, it reconstructs intended meaning in the moment, helping caregivers understand what their loved ones are trying to say.
The system consists of two connected products. The Candle HomePod sits quietly in the home as a warm, ambient device that interprets fragmented speech during live conversations. Rather than interrupting the natural flow of dialogue, it offers context-aware suggestions that preserve emotional intimacy while reducing confusion. The Caregiver App serves as a companion dashboard, logging interpreted conversations and tracking communication patterns over time. By analyzing tone shifts, repetition, and confusion frequency, it surfaces subtle changes that might otherwise go unnoticed, offering caregivers both reassurance and early warning.