OpMaatje carries three meanings at once. For people with dementia it is a maatje, a personal companion that listens and knows you a little better every day. For care teams it is the opmaat, the musical upbeat before the piece. The AI builds trust and a personal profile, then hands that knowledge to the care team, so every interaction starts at the right tempo and tone. And everything it does is op maat: tailored.

Through short, warm conversations OpMaatje gets to know a resident and builds a learning personal profile: preferences, life stories, music, family, mood. From that profile it chooses fitting interventions, starting with favourite music and reminiscence, both proven to ease agitation. It supports people with dementia at the moments caregivers are least available, like the late afternoon. It gives residents calm and recognition, and gives caregivers a dashboard with session summaries, conversation starters, and insight into preferences and potential triggers.

The avatar is a warm face with intelligent behaviour behind it: an agentic AI system in which specialised agents cooperate to hold the conversation, learn who the resident is, choose what fits the moment, and guard safety, drawing only on verified personal information. The detailed architecture is part of the ongoing R&D collaboration and fueled a collaboration grant, one that still needs to land. The avatar is focused on short or repeating questions, placing emotion and identity as the primary conversational thread.

OpMaatje was tested with residents at care organisations Het Andere Wonen and De Meerpaal. In May 2026 it won the jury prize of the Warm Technology Challenge (ECDT, TU/e), judged by a former Minister of Health, the head of research of Alzheimer Nederland, and experience experts. OpMaatje continues as an R&D collaboration between Aumens and me, working toward deployment in Dutch care homes. I am planning to join Aumens to further develop and design, making a truly marketable warm technology.