🐕 Patronus is an AI-powered imaginary friend that listens via a wearable pin, supports emotional growth through conversation, and gently keeps parents informed through high-level summaries.
Patronus.pet is designed to be a safe space for kids to express, explore, and imagine — a compassionate listener in moments of confusion or distress, and a quiet but insightful companion to help parents spot red flags early.
How Patronus Works
Advanced AI technology designed specifically for children's emotional wellness, combining voice recognition, emotion detection, and secure data handling.
Voice Recognition
Advanced speech recognition that understands your child's natural way of speaking
Emotion Detection
AI-powered emotion analysis to provide appropriate responses and support
Safe & Secure
Privacy-first design with secure data handling and parental controls
Family Dashboard
Parents can track emotional wellness patterns
Inspiration
Every day, countless children struggle with social challenges — from feeling excluded to facing bullying at school or online. Many don't yet have the emotional vocabulary to say "I'm scared," "I feel alone," or "Someone was mean to me."
Instead, they turn inward. They can even create imaginary friends. And those friends — though invisible — often become their first emotional support system.
But what if that imaginary friend could actually listen, respond, and help?
As a couple — Roman (engineer) and Anna (designer) — we set out to build something that bridges that invisible emotional world with thoughtful, supportive technology. We wanted to create a magical presence that would empower kids to express themselves while helping parents understand their child's needs — without breaking privacy or trust.
How We Built It
We built two separate apps: one for kids where they can talk to their Patronus companion, and another for parents where they can receive warning notifications or ask about their child in a chat interface.
This dual-app approach ensures that children have a safe, private space to express themselves while parents stay informed about their child's emotional well-being through appropriate channels.
Challenges We Ran Into
- Balancing privacy boundaries — we intentionally do not share direct conversations from the child with parents. Instead, we generate high-level summaries to preserve trust and emotional autonomy for the child
- Syncing voice input from hardware and mapping that to real-time avatar changes
- Balancing the magical personality of a pet with its practical, supportive purpose
What We Learned
- A single AI voice, done right, can build real emotional connection
- Simplicity in parent dashboards goes a long way in creating trust
- Emotional tech can be warm, playful, and meaningful when designed with care
🐕 Patronus: Empowering children to express themselves safely with their Patronus while providing parents with valuable insights into their emotional wellness.