If you're reading this, you probably know the feeling. You call your parent every day. They say they're fine. You hang up and wonder if they really are.
That quiet worry — the one you can't quite name — is what drove me to build Daily Howdy.
I'm Bill Eisenhauer, a software engineer in Austin, TX. Like millions of adult children, I live far from my aging parent. I wanted more than a phone call. I wanted something that would let me see how they're doing, not just hear that they're fine.
But I didn't want surveillance. I didn't want a clinical tool. I didn't want something that would make my parent feel tested or monitored.
I wanted a game. Something genuinely fun. Something that would make my parent smile every morning — and give me the peace of mind that comes from actually knowing, not just hoping, that they're okay.
The insight
I learned that neurologists use simple word games — "name as many animals as you can in 60 seconds" — as a primary screen for cognitive change. The same games that are fun to play with a friend or family member also happen to generate exactly the kind of data that tracks cognitive patterns over time.
The key insight: you don't need a medical device to notice a change. You just need consistent, daily data points. A single off day means nothing. But a gradual shift in word count or response consistency over weeks? That's worth knowing about.
The mission
Daily Howdy is built on a simple belief: you can monitor what matters without making anyone feel monitored. Fun and insight aren't opposites — they're the same thing, designed right.
Every design decision we make asks two questions: "Is this fun for the senior?" and "Does this give the caregiver peace of mind?" If the answer to both isn't yes, we don't ship it.
We're a small team building something we wish existed for our own families. If you're the kind of person who calls every day and still worries, Daily Howdy is for you.