A very successful MARIO Kick off meeting was held on 16th & 17th February followed by a technical kick off meeting on 18th, in the School of Nursing & Midwifery, NUI Galway, Ireland. In total 28 participants attended the meeting which included representatives from all 11 partners across the six participating countries. During the meeting, the team worked on developing a Vison for MARIO, discussed the key work packages, milestones and deliverables and agreed ways of working  within the project. Key highlights of the meeting included the participation of Des a retired engineer with dementia and the arrival of the Kompai robot from Robosoft. Des shared his experience of what it’s like to live with dementia on a daily basis. He also told participants that he would like a robot with a friendly appearance, who could prompt him to remember things, have the capacity to store and display photographs of key events during his life, for example where he went on past summer holidays and if possible a robot with the capacity for face recognition would be helpful. From the outset therefore the meeting was shaped by users perspectives. The research team are looking forward to the challenges ahead and to working together. The meeting drew to a close with Robosoft agreeing to host the next meeting in September in Biarritz.