Tooliip: Conversations Designed to Track the Course of Parkinson’s

Parkinson’s disease is difficult to capture through isolated snapshots. Symptoms can change from day to day, vary in severity, and extend far beyond visible motor impairments. Yet during medical appointments, important developments often have to be described from memory.

This is precisely the gap Tooliip aims to address. The project is developing an AI-supported everyday companion that allows people with Parkinson’s to regularly talk about how they are feeling, their symptoms, and their activities. The experience is designed to feel less like using a conventional smartphone app and more like having a natural phone conversation.

An idea rooted in personal experience

Tooliip was founded by Max, Enrique, and Wendi from Darmstadt. According to the team, their work has been shaped by personal experiences with Parkinson’s disease among family members and friends. This close connection led to a central question: How can people living with the condition receive better support in everyday life, particularly during the long periods between specialist appointments?

The technical solution was therefore not developed solely from an abstract market idea. It began with a specific challenge in healthcare: changes occur in everyday life but may not be discussed until weeks or months later. By then, details can be forgotten, misremembered, or insufficiently contextualised.

Documentation through conversation

Users are intended to be able to access Tooliip 24/7 via telephone, app, or smart speaker. During regular conversations, symptoms, activities, and personal well-being are documented. The system is designed to ask relevant follow-up questions, track previously mentioned developments, and bring the information together in a structured way.

These conversations are intended to form the basis for progress reports. They can help people better understand changes over longer periods and prepare more specifically for conversations with healthcare professionals.

The innovation therefore lies not only in the use of artificial intelligence. What matters is the combination of voice interaction, regular support, and structured analysis. Particularly for people with tremors, limited fine motor skills, or little experience with digital technology, this approach could provide an alternative to complex input interfaces.

Developing the solution together with those affected

Tooliip is still at an early stage of development. The team points to academic research conducted at the Technical University of Darmstadt and initial prototype tests involving several people with Parkinson’s disease. These efforts are complemented by feedback sessions with professionals and regular exchanges with people living with Parkinson’s and their relatives through self-help groups in the Rhine-Main region.

This collaboration is central to the development process. Whether a digital health assistant is genuinely useful cannot be determined by technical performance alone. It must also be understandable, reliable, and as easy as possible to use in everyday life.

According to the team, more than 30 people are already on a waiting list for the product and planned testing phases. Tooliip has also received awards in several startup competitions.

Between technological possibilities and medical responsibility

A voice-controlled companion cannot replace medical care. Its potential value lies instead in documenting observations between appointments more effectively and preparing them for later discussions.

At the same time, this raises sensitive questions. Health data requires a particularly high level of protection. Statements generated by an AI system must be understandable and traceable, and the system’s limitations must be communicated clearly to users. The involvement of medical and therapeutic professionals will also be crucial to the project’s further development.

Tooliip is therefore seeking collaborations with research institutions, self-help groups, professional networks, and potential partners for pilot projects. The team also intends to examine possible interfaces with existing services and solutions.

The next steps

The project dates its launch to October 2025. Since July 2026, Tooliip has been supported through the Hessen Ideen scholarship programme. A longer-term prototype testing phase is planned for September 2026. The team is continuously looking for people interested in participating in tests and interviews so that the solution can continue to be developed not only for, but above all together with, people living with Parkinson’s and their relatives.

In the long term, the team is considering additional functions. These include personalised guidance within the healthcare system, the integration of health data from wearables, and closer connections with healthcare professionals. Reminder functions and further voice-based assistance are also part of the vision described by the team.

It remains to be seen which of these approaches will prove effective in practical use. But the development process already illustrates the central idea behind Tooliip: a complex condition should not be met with additional technological complexity, but with an approach that is familiar to many people — the spoken word.

Tooliip at a Glance

Project: Tooliip
Location: Darmstadt
Represented by: Max Gudzent

Address
Bessungerstr. 168
64295 Darmstadt
Germany

Contact
Phone: +49 157 56074206
Email: info@tooliip.com

Further Information
LinkedIn: Tooliip on LinkedIn
VAT ID: DE319543300

AI Transparency