The Human Layer
Real-time accompaniment by trained companions. Appointment preparation, in-visit support, and post-visit processing, with a summary delivered to the family.
Try the serviceDeployed Care Platform · HCI × Digital Ageing · 2024–2026
Laguna Companion Service
A deployed care-communication platform, built from scratch. Live in pilot since July 2026.
Two years accompanying aging parents through Taiwan's healthcare system taught me what non-compliance actually looks like from the inside, and what it would take to design around it.
Ai-Lun Huang · Designer × Researcher
ailunhuang.com
Two layers, one service
The Platform Layer
A full-stack system built from scratch:
- Patient PWA: offline-first, 5 languages, AI consultation prep
- Companion CRM: operations backend, case management
- ESP32 GPS Node: field event context (not surveillance)
PHP/MySQL backend · ESP32 hardware integration · AI tools for note organisation
Case study frame
Not a clinical claim, but an operable research prototype.
What I built
A browser-based PWA prototype that helps patients and caregivers prepare a three-point medical briefing before a consultation, use low-attention prompts during the visit, and wrap up confusion or instructions afterward.
My role
Research framing, interaction concept, interface structure, multilingual scenario design, prototype logic, documentation, front-end prototype implementation, and testing.
Research relevance
This prototype tests one branch of a broader research question: how interactive technologies can support dignity, self-representation, and shared understanding when formal access exists but cognitive, linguistic, or emotional pressure makes participation difficult.
Prototype boundary
This is not a clinical device, diagnostic tool, or triage system. It is a research prototype for exploring how patients and caregivers can prepare, state, and preserve what matters before attention, memory, or time pressure collapses the conversation.
Three systems, one service chain
Laguna remains the communication core; CRM and ESP32 extend the service context without replacing it.
Communication layer
Laguna PWA
Patient-stated summaries, 7-day logs, low-attention appointment prompts, and wrap-up.
Operations layer
Companion CRM
Bookings, dispatch, service state, post-visit notes, fees, and CSV export.
Field event layer
ESP32 GPS Node
Departed, arrived, need-help, completed, and GPS fix/no-fix events.
Role journeys
Each person sees only the part they need to carry.
Patient
- 01Logs symptoms
- 02Reviews 3 visit anchors
- 03Uses low-attention prompts
- 04Wraps up confusion and instructions
Family
- 01Creates a booking
- 02Tracks departed / arrived / completed
- 03Sees need-help alerts
- 04Receives the service summary
Professional caregiver / contractor
- 01Checks CRM task
- 02Presses ESP32 event buttons
- 03Supports translation and observation
- 04Completes service notes
Operator
- 01Reviews today's requests
- 02Monitors IoT timeline
- 03Handles need_help
- 04Closes and exports records
Medical staff
- 01Reads Laguna hand-off only
- 02Sees patient-stated information
- 03Does not see CRM/IoT ops data
- 04Keeps clinical judgment separate
Live artifacts
The public site explains the service model; the private backend remains for operations and walkthroughs.
Laguna PWAA usable appointment-communication PWA.OpenCompanion service modelA public service-model demo showing booking, pricing, post-service summaries, CRM fallback, and ESP32 field events.Explore
A login-protected PHP/MySQL CRM is already deployed as the private operations backend and interview walkthrough. It is not the public site's primary entry point. ESP32 GPS events enter that backend's service timeline.
The next question isn't how to build this. It's how an adaptive, human-centred AI might adjust its support as a person's motivation, capability, and life circumstances change across months and years. That is the PhD question.
Trust boundaries
A service tool, not a medical monitoring system.
The IoT API is not a future ornament. It is now deployed inside the private Companion CRM: ESP32 can POST WiFi events to /api/companion/iot_events.php, and the backend already stores heartbeat, GPS fix/no-fix, satellites, HDOP, need_help, and service-state events. The public page explains the business model, booking flow, and service boundaries.
Laguna presents patient-stated information; it does not diagnose, triage, score risk, or advise medication.
Companion CRM is now a private login-protected PHP/MySQL operations backend for service requests, professional caregivers, summaries, and IoT events.
ESP32 GPS adds event context; it is not continuous tracking or a wandering-prevention guarantee.
No-fix GPS events are still accepted so service reliability does not depend on unstable satellite reception.