Enchanted Tools and APREH partner to deploy Mirokaï across care facilities

Enchanted Tools has signed a partnership with APREH, a French care organisation, to deploy 11 Mirokaï robots across five APREH facilities serving three distinct populations; older adults in independent living residences, adults with disabilities in supported living homes, and children with disabilities through specialised child support services. Deployment is planned to begin in 2027. Enchanted Tools describes the project as a step toward bringing Mirokaï into care environments alongside teams and residents, with a multi-year roadmap for on-site interaction and iteration.

Enchanted Tools was founded in Paris in 2021 by Jérôme Monceaux and Samuel Benveniste. Monceaux co-founded Aldebaran Robotics and served as its Executive Vice President after SoftBank acquired the company; he was the lead designer of Nao and Pepper, two of the most widely deployed social robots in history. Benveniste holds a doctorate in science and previously directed France's national centre of expertise in cognitive stimulation. The two founders brought together hardware and interaction research backgrounds directly relevant to the care-setting problem; Benveniste's cognitive stimulation background shapes how the robot is designed to engage rather than just assist.

Mirokaï stands 123 centimetres tall, weighs 28 kilograms, and moves on a patented three-degree-of-freedom ball base that allows smooth omnidirectional navigation through existing environments without requiring facility modification. Its face is a real-time animated projection rather than a fixed or mechanical surface, designed to express and react without crossing into uncanny valley territory. The name comes from the Japanese words for seeing and beauty. The design intent is explicit; Mirokaï is not trying to look human, and Monceaux has described the goal as creating "synthetic alterities," robots that simulate intelligent and emotional behaviours to establish natural connection without pretending to be something they are not.

In care settings, the robot is intended to provide gentle guidance for daily routines, interactive activities, and emotional reassurance, complementing rather than replacing care professionals. The APREH partnership follows several earlier care-environment deployments. Enchanted Tools has a partnership with the Montpellier Cancer Institute to accompany children undergoing radiotherapy, where adults are excluded due to radiation exposure. A pilot with the Mather Institute explored Mirokaï's role in community settings, examining how its presence shapes engagement and social connection among residents and staff. In San Jose, the robot was used with seniors living with cognitive decline through music, games, and conversation.

Enchanted Tools raised €17 million in seed funding, the largest early-stage robotics investment in French history, and delivered approximately 50 robots through its pilot production line in 2024. The company holds the Deeptech label from BPI and is one of 125 startups in the French Tech 2030 programme. Its ten-year production target is 100,000 units. Broader B2B deployment is planned from 2026, with wider public accessibility targeted by 2029.

The APREH project is a disclosed partnership with a defined deployment plan; the 11-robot rollout across five facilities begins in 2027 and no operational or outcome data from APREH settings has yet been disclosed.

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