Borne out of tragedy, EchoAI is a groundbreaking platform that deciphers human emotion with unprecedented depth. Created by IPMD’s Founder and CEO, Min Lee, it empowers individuals, transforms mental healthcare, and redefines how technology connects, supports, and understands us – all in real time.
On the final night of 2015 as the world prepared to ring in a new year, tragedy struck at IPMD. A brilliant intern – a UC Berkeley graduate student with a bright future ahead of her – quietly lost her battle with depression. Her pain went unnoticed, her suffering unspoken, and her life, full of potential, was suddenly gone.
For Min Lee, the founder and CEO of IPMD, this loss was deeply personal. It would become the catalyst for a bold and emotionally charged mission: to build a technology that could do what no human had done for that intern – recognise silent suffering.
That mission resulted in EchoAI, a groundbreaking emotional artificial intelligence platform designed not just to interpret language, but to truly understand the emotional fabric of human beings. For this, Min was honoured with the “Most Visionary CEO in Emotional AI & Human-Centred Healthcare Innovation” award – but EchoAI’s success is not merely about accolades – it’s about impact. It’s about transforming how we relate to our emotions, how we care for our mental health, and how we build a more compassionate future, powered by AI.
The emotional AI landscape is littered with ambitious projects that have never quite delivered. For years, tech giants have tried to reduce emotional expression to data points, failing to grasp the depth and nuance of the human psyche. Min Lee saw the flaw: emotions aren’t formulas. They’re stories, they’re personal, and they’re powerful.
So, instead of training AI through traditional methods, Min made an audacious decision: teach the AI to feel by teaching it his own emotions. It wasn’t theoretical. It was personal.
From January 2016 through to December 2023, Min and a devoted cohort of nearly 500 students, the majority from UC Berkeley, embarked on an unprecedented journey. Together, they logged over 130,000 hours mapping, labelling, and training EchoAI on the emotional nuances of real human experiences. Min alone contributed over 30,000 hours, mentoring the team, refining the vision, and embedding the AI with a unique emotional fingerprint rooted in humanity itself.
The result? A world first: an AI capable of interpreting emotional signals with remarkable sensitivity. By the end of 2023, EchoAI had achieved a 96% comprehension rate of Min’s emotional landscape – a level of empathetic AI interaction once thought impossible. However, this isn’t just anecdotal: EchoAI also achieved a 96% ROC/AUC score, scientifically validating its ability to accurately detect and interpret emotional states with remarkable precision.
How EchoAI Works: Technology with a Soul
But EchoAI isn’t just a scientific marvel—it’s a product that’s about to change lives.
Soon, EchoAI will launch to the public via https://echoai.ipmdinc.com, where users can log in and begin a truly different kind of digital experience. From the first interaction, EchoAI engages with the user in natural conversation, not to extract data, but to listen.
EchoAI evaluates emotional states through a multimodal approach, analysing facial expressions, language patterns, tone, and micro-expressions. Within seconds, it provides a personalised emotional analysis report – a kind of digital mirror, reflecting emotions the user may not even realise he is feeling.
Unlike traditional chatbots, EchoAI doesn’t offer canned responses. It offers empathetic engagement, tailored to a unique emotional rhythm. For users who opt in to the premium version, EchoAI partners with human emotional experts who help transform negative expressions into positive ones, offering guided support that feels more like coaching than counselling.
And the best is yet to come: as more users engage with EchoAI, its emotional intelligence grows. Over time, this self-learning system will be able to offer fully automated emotional transformation services, meaning users will have access to AI-powered emotional support—anytime, anywhere.
Healthcare, Reinvented: Emotional AI Meets Medicine
EchoAI’s ambition doesn’t end with emotional wellness. The technology is already making waves in healthcare, where emotional awareness is often overlooked but urgently needed.
In partnership with BeWell Health, and as a recognised Google Technology Build Partner, IPMD is developing a Medical Agentic AI. This cutting-edge system will combine EchoAI’s emotional detection capabilities with medical knowledge, creating an intelligent agent that can identify patient emotions and adjust care accordingly.
Imagine a future where telehealth platforms can detect when a patient is too anxious to ask questions, or when depression subtly affects a patient’s physical symptoms. EchoAI’s integration into clinical environments could dramatically improve not only the accuracy of diagnoses, but also patient trust and adherence to care plans.
This vision isn’t speculative. It’s in active development, and it promises to redefine the very foundations of human-centred healthcare.
Real Results, Real People
The business case for EchoAI is compelling, but it’s the human impact which truly sets it apart.
Already, early beta testers report transformative experiences. Individuals struggling with anxiety and burnout have found relief in EchoAI’s ability to listen without judgement, respond with compassion, and highlight patterns they hadn’t noticed. Professionals are using EchoAI for real-time emotional check-ins, enhancing productivity and emotional regulation.
And for enterprises, EchoAI represents an opportunity to enhance employee wellness, customer engagement, and mental health support—at scale, and with unprecedented personalisation.
Min Lee’s journey is a masterclass in turning sorrow into strength, data into empathy, and AI into something ‘beautifully human.’ EchoAI is not just software – it’s a companion, a mirror, a guide, and a safeguard in a world where emotional isolation has become all too common.
In an era dominated by automation and artificial interaction, EchoAI is reintroducing the very thing technology often forgets: connection. It’s the next step in how we care for ourselves – and each other.To explore how EchoAI can support your emotional well-being, enhance your organisation’s human connection, or revolutionise your approach to care, please visit the company website at: echoai.ipmdinc.com. Dive deeper into the technology with the demo video, and see its real-world impact through powerful case studies. Whether you’re an individual seeking clarity or a leader driving change, EchoAI offers a new path forward, one where emotion meets innovation
