The Story Behind the Name
OSCAR is named after our founder's grandfather Oscar, a man who embodied the values of care, respect, and quiet strength that we believe everyone deserves as they age.
The name also stands for what we strive to deliver every day: Optimal Support, Care and Respect.
"Technology should adapt to people — not require people to adapt to technology."
Born from Experience
Our founder Rickey Shankles is a stroke survivor. During his second stroke, the signs went undetected for three to four days until his daughter noticed something was wrong with his face. He thought he was just dropping things because of a torn rotator cuff. By the time he reached the ER, the stroke had fully kicked in.
That experience changed everything. OSCAR grew out of the question that followed: what if something at home could have helped his family notice a change sooner?
What We Believe
Human First
We design for real people with real needs, not for technology's sake.
Privacy Centered
Your health data belongs to you. Local-first architecture keeps it that way.
Family Connected
Peace of mind for the people who care about you, without being intrusive.
Aging in Place
Supporting independence at home, where people want to be.
Our Founder
Rickey Shankles
Born in Longview, Texas, and the first in his family to graduate high school, Rick served thirteen years in the United States Marine Corps, retiring as a Staff Sergeant with two Navy Achievement Medals for automating supply and food-service operations across the Pacific. A programmer and systems builder ever since, he went on to lead enterprise IT and e-commerce teams, including an online retailer named among Internet Retailer’s Best of the Web, and served as a contractor to Sandia National Laboratories.
He holds a Master of Education in Learning Design & Technology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he also taught career-transition skills to veterans with traumatic brain injuries, and he spent seven years managing a 192-residence Honolulu high-rise, where many of the residents were elders determined to keep living independently in their own homes.
Rick is a 100% service-connected disabled veteran and a two-time stroke survivor. Today OSCAR runs every day in his own home, and he works on it full-time alongside co-founder Katherine.
Rick also serves on the Board of Directors for the American Association for Elder Care (AAEC).
His philosophy: "The events of my life explain me. They do not define me. My choices define who I became."