MARCo- The Therapeutic Robotic Companion

Here at MARCo Technologies LLC. we know the true impact mental illness has on individuals, families, and friends. Our founding members, Ryan Chiu and Jacob Boyle have known firsthand family members and close friends who have suffered severely due to depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and more. Beyond our own lives, in the United States an estimated 45 million individuals suffer from mental illness but there is a vastly smaller number of licensed mental health professionals. If everyone who had a mental illness went to get treatment, each professional caregiver would have approximately 350 patients. But of course, due to the high cost of mental healthcare in the US, many of these individuals are discouraged from getting the care they require.

Because of all this, we wanted to introduce a new solution to encourage wider access to mental healthcare in a cost effective manner. After 7 months of development, we are ready to unveil the new solution: its name is MARCo - the Mentally Assistive Robotic Companion.

This patent pending device is a therapeutic robotic companion to assist individuals suffering from mental illnesses. Currently, it is primarily focused on treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, and bipolar disorder, but in the future it will be able to employ its treatment for a wider range of mental illnesses. MARCo delivers its care using its Five Objectives of Care:

1) Companionship and Social Interaction - MARCo serves first and foremost as a friend! It can identify individuals, learn their personality, preferences, and dislikes, and use this knowledge to cheer up a user, such as by cracking a joke or playing a favorite song.

2) Instructive and Stimulating Guided Meditation - A pillar of modern therapy, MARCo can play soothing music, display relaxing images and lights, and guide a user through a meditation session.

3) Employing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (C.B.T.) - Commonly known as "talk therapy", in conjunction with guided meditation, this is the most standard treatment provided by licensed mental health professionals. MARCo employs functions of C.B.T. to talk with a user and identify their thought patterns to help reform negative thoughts and encourage positive ones.

4) Biofeedback - Since mental health is directly connected to physical health, MARCo can read and record information such as a heart rate, sleeping and eating patterns, and even stress levels with its squeezable stress-foam body. If MARCo detects a deviation, it can inquire more to see where the issues are stemming from and help provide a plan to get a user's health back on track.

5) External Outreach in a High Risk Situation - MARCo knows it is only a robot, so in serious situations, such as when the threat of suicide or self-harm is pertinent, outreach to other personnel is needed. When MARCo detects these high risk situations, it can remotely notify emergency contacts, family members, and other emergency services to accelerate response times, preventing tragedies from occurring.


We have produced one MARCo prototype to date, and are working to improve the unit to bring it to production and clinical trials within the next year. The funds from this campaign will help us fund our initial startup expenses, such as securing a utility patent, hiring additional developers, and expanding our outreach so we can bring MARCo to more  events and allow it to reach a wider audience.

MARCo exists because of the outpouring of support our co-founders received from their families, friends, and local community members, especially the faculty and staff at The College of New Jersey, where the founding members study. Without such a strong crowd-based backing, we would be nowhere near bringing this device to those who need it. Your support will allow MARCo to get in the hands of those who need it and lower the number of individuals who are not getting care for their mental illnesses.

Thank you for your time and consideration!