Onorato History
My father and I have shared thousands of meals, but some were special: those on Thursdays.
Every Thursday we would go eat paella at his favorite restaurant, and next door there was a real parrot he adored. We had to greet it when we arrived and when we left because it was his moment of happiness. His face when the parrot said hello was like a child’s at Disney.
He had dementia for the last three years, and I cared for him obsessively, buying all kinds of devices to make his life and mine a little easier, so he could continue living at home.
When he was hospitalized and nearing the end of his life—something neither of us knew—a night he asked me to buy him a parrot to keep him company. I spent the whole night thinking about how I could fulfill his wish.
That’s how I came up with the idea to create a parrot with artificial intelligence and emotional computing. This parrot would be equipped with a camera and a thermometer and would be able to remind my father when to take his medication, monitor his temperature, detect falls, and carry out cognitive exercises, among other functions—everything I wasn’t able to manage during those last three years despite using all kinds of gadgets on the market.
After confirming the project’s feasibility with an amazing engineering lab in Barcelona, I created Onorato—that’s the name my father gave it when I told him he “finally had HIS parrot,” an AI companion dedicated to creating this parrot for international distribution.
Although my father is no longer here to enjoy Onorato, millions of people around the world will benefit from it. He left me a mission: I created Onorato to help our elders continue living safely and happily at home until the end.
Thank you, Dad. This is for you, always for you.