Vivonep is developing Aapo – a phone-based AI service to support older adults in everyday life
Vivonep Oy is a technology company based in Tampere, Finland. We are developing Aapo, a conversational AI service that supports older adults through ordinary phone calls.
Aapo is designed to provide regular companionship, brighten the day and bring rhythm to everyday life as easily as possible. Aapo calls the user at an agreed time on their ordinary phone. The service requires no smartphone, app, login or new device to learn – the user simply answers the call.
Aapo does not replace family members, friends, caregivers or other human contact. It complements everyday social connections when there is not enough conversation or company available, or when the day simply benefits from a familiar, regular conversation.
Many older adults have too little regular social interaction in their everyday lives. This can affect people living alone just as well as those living with a spouse or another loved one. At the same time, family members are balancing work, family, distance and the demands of everyday life, and there is not always as much time to stay in touch as they would like.
Many existing solutions focus on safety, alarms or arranging care. These are important, but alongside them there is also a need for accessible and preventive solutions that bring more social contact, stimulation and regularity into everyday life.
Key needs include reducing loneliness, regular companionship, mental activity and daily rhythm.
Aapo has been developed to respond to these needs. Feedback from our early pilots shows clear positive signals that Aapo can help reduce feelings of loneliness, brighten the day and support daily rhythm and activity.
In addition to regular conversations, Aapo can reminisce with the user, talk about their interests, encourage engagement through questions and small activities, and bring variety into the day. Our aim is to support wellbeing, mental activity and the ability to live a meaningful and independent life at home for as long as possible.
In our discussions with professionals working with older adults, we have also repeatedly heard a clear need for this kind of accessible, preventive support that increases social contact without requiring a new device or complicated technology.
Finland’s population is ageing rapidly. At the end of 2025, around 1.35 million people in Finland were aged 65 or older, representing almost one quarter of the population. Among people aged 75 and over living in private households, approximately 45% live alone.
Ageing or living alone do not in themselves mean loneliness. However, retirement, distance from loved ones, changes in functional ability and fewer social contacts can reduce everyday interaction. As the population ages, the need for easily accessible ways to maintain social connection, mental activity and daily rhythm continues to grow.
Loneliness affects a vast number of older adults beyond Finland as well. International research suggests that around 25–30% of older adults report experiencing loneliness, with rates exceeding 30% among people aged over 75 in some populations.
This is a broad and growing societal need. As populations age, care and safety solutions need to be complemented by accessible ways to increase social connection, activity and daily rhythm. Aapo has been developed to provide this kind of support as simply as possible, through an ordinary phone call, without apps or the need to learn how to use a new device.
The idea behind Aapo has developed over several years. Vivonep’s founder, Kalle Rehakka, saw through people close to him and through observing the everyday lives of older adults how meaningful regular contact can be. At the same time, it became clear that loved ones are not always able to be present or stay in touch as often as they would like.
Before founding Vivonep, the background included several years of following developments in health, care and technology, as well as visiting events and exhibitions in the field.
The work became a full-time effort focused on research, interviews and concept development, including discussions with older adults, family members, care-sector professionals, experts and potential partners.
Vivonep Oy was founded to move the Aapo service forward in a structured way. After the company was founded, the work continued as active preparation: user understanding was deepened, cooperation networks were built, feedback was gathered from older adults and experts, and technical implementation options were prepared.
The work also expanded into regular group meetings and ideation sessions with older adults, allowing the need and user experience of the service to be assessed directly with the target group.
A broader publicly supported development and piloting phase began. During 2026, the focus is on service development, piloting, collecting user feedback and refining the user experience.
Aapo is a phone-based AI service that can call the user regularly and talk with them about everyday topics. Conversations may include daily check-ins, routines, memories, interests or light reminders.
The most important design principle is ease of use. The user does not need to learn a new app or purchase a new device. Aapo works through a familiar phone call, making the service accessible also to people who find digital services, touchscreens or complex technologies difficult.
Aapo is intended especially for older adults living at home who would benefit from more conversation, rhythm or a sense of security in their everyday life.
The service may be suitable for someone who lives alone, whose loved ones cannot call every day, who experiences occasional loneliness, or who benefits from regular and gentle everyday contact.
Aapo can also bring peace of mind to family members. A loved one can know that the older person has one additional point of contact in their day — one that does not get tired, forget or disappear in the middle of a busy schedule.
Our first market is Finland. Our goal is to make Aapo available to consumers in Finland during 2026, once piloting and development have progressed far enough.
We are starting with the consumer market because older adults and their family members can decide to try the service quickly and with a low threshold. As we gather more user experience and impact data, we will expand cooperation with care-sector organizations, associations and the public sector.
Aapo has been designed from the beginning to scale internationally. After Finland, our goal is to localize the service into other languages and cultures, starting with nearby markets such as Sweden and Denmark.
Vivonep’s development work has been advanced with private funding, support from the business sector and partner networks. In addition, the work is supported by a business development grant from the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, which helps us develop, pilot and test Aapo in real user environments.
We work with software developers, experts, several higher education institutions and networks that work with older adults. The project also includes expertise related to AI ethics and the development of age technology, and we have started initial discussions with international organizations in the field. Through piloting and user feedback, we make sure the service does not remain a technical experiment, but becomes a solution that genuinely fits everyday life and benefits its users.
Vivonep is building Aapo into an accessible, phone-based AI service that supports older adults in everyday life. We want to offer conversation, rhythm and a sense of security in the moments where many people currently fall between existing services.
Aapo is not a replacement for people. It is additional support for everyday life, a familiar voice on the phone when conversation is needed.
