Stewardship, not charity. Community, not customers.
ARIA is building open-source AI companions for people with Parkinson's disease. Your support helps us develop technology that preserves dignity without price barriers.
10 million people worldwide live with Parkinson's disease. Commercial assistive robots cost $3,000 to $70,000. We believe dignity shouldn't have a price barrier.
Every dollar goes directly toward making assistive technology accessible. We're not building a company to sell to investors. We're building tools to give away to families who need them. ARIA will always be open source, always be buildable for under $500, and always put patients first.
ARIA operates on an Open Core + Community Stewardship model. Donors aren't customers or investors—they're stewards who help decide the project's direction. We publish how every dollar is used and welcome community input on priorities.
Every contribution directly funds the development of accessible assistive technology.
Funds Raspberry Pi units, sensors, 3D printing materials, and components for testing new ARIA variants before releasing build guides.
Supports fine-tuning speech recognition for dysarthric voices and optimizing local LLMs to run on affordable hardware.
Creates step-by-step build guides, video tutorials, and multi-language documentation so anyone can build an ARIA companion.
Funds real-world testing with Parkinson's patients and caregivers, gathering feedback to improve safety and usability.
We use Open Collective as our fiscal host—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that handles finances for open-source projects. This means your donation is tax-deductible and every transaction is publicly visible.
Join our community of supporters helping make assistive technology accessible to everyone.
One-time and recurring options available. ~5% goes to fiscal host overhead.
A fiscal host is a legal entity that holds funds on behalf of projects like ARIA. Open Collective Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which means they handle taxes, legal compliance, and financial reporting—so we can focus on building assistive technology. Your donation goes to them, and they release funds for approved project expenses.
Financial support is just one way to help. Here's how you can contribute your skills and time.
Help improve ARIA's AI models, software, or documentation. All skill levels welcome.
Build an ARIA prototype and share your experience. Your build logs help others succeed.
Help spread ARIA's research paper on academic networks. Citations increase visibility.
Share ARIA with Parkinson's support groups, maker communities, or anyone who might benefit.
Open Collective provides radical transparency—every donation and expense is publicly visible in real-time. No black boxes.
View our Open Collective page →
Learn more about our governance model on the Ecosystem page.
Yes! ARIA is fiscally hosted by Open Collective Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations made through Open Collective are tax-deductible for US taxpayers. You'll receive a receipt for your records. For donors outside the US, tax-deductibility depends on your local laws.
Our ecosystem model includes recognition tokens for all contributors— including donors. These tokens represent your stake in the community and grant voting rights on project decisions. They are not financial instruments and have no monetary value.
Financial contributions are just one way to help! You can contribute code, build prototypes, share the project, or provide feedback. All contributions—time, skills, or funds—are equally valued in our community.
Yes! If you have spare Raspberry Pi units, sensors, or other relevant components, please reach out on GitHub Discussions. In-kind contributions help reduce costs for prototype development.
We welcome partnerships with companies, research institutions, and healthcare organizations. Contact us through GitHub Discussions to explore collaboration opportunities.
Not as a customer. Not as an investor. As a partner in building accessible futures for people with Parkinson's disease.