Dr. Hugh Rashid
Founder & CEODesign innovation
Nurtures companionship and emotional well-being through empathetic conversations
Provides practical, day-to-day assistance to support confident independent living
Keeps caregivers and families informed and connected with thoughtful visibility and support
Embracing curiosity and improvement to create smart, practical solutions for caregiving challenges.
Acting with genuine care and understanding so our technology always feels comforting and respectful.
Putting people first with technology that is simple, non-intrusive, and life-enhancing.
Upholding ethics, privacy, and safety, always doing what’s right for patients and families.
Working with caregivers, experts, and partners to ensure solutions meet real-world needs.
Delivering consistent, dependable support that caregivers and families can trust everyday.
A timeline of the milestones that shaped NaviGait—our progress, partnerships, prototypes, and launches.
Released our first robot to support the 5 Ms of Age-Friendly Care (What Matters, Medication, Mentation, Mobility, Multicomplexity).
Real-world use showed the strongest results in Mentation (memory, routine, emotional wellbeing), so we narrowed the product’s purpose.
Chose to focus on dementia-focused support and partnered with UC Noyce (UCI) to validate what real-world robotics in healthcare can look like: low-cost, AI-augmented systems deployed in senior-care settings, learning from mobility and daily activity.
Became focused on older adults with MCI living independently—supporting connection through conversation, routines, reminders, and check-ins.
In progress: NIH-funded pilot with Judson Senior Living testing “Navi” for acceptability, safety/navigation, and routine support.
In progress: Evaluating edge vs. cloud AI models (LLMs) to improve robot conversation speed and quality. Continuing to deepen outcomes for independent older adults with MCI, while expanding research-driven validation.
Founded by experts in healthcare and engineering, NaviGait’s core team brings a unique blend of expertise in human-centered AI, healthcare, and robotics. Our team includes AI and robotics engineers, gerontologists, clinicians, and leading scholars who have come together with a shared passion: to improve elder care through technology.
Design innovation
UX
Physical AI and digital twins
Strategy and innovation
Navi has been developed through close collaboration with academic institutions and research partners, allowing insights from controlled studies to translate into real-world care.
