Inventions that start with people.

Co-Synthesist is an independent invention studio in Newcastle, New South Wales. Each invention begins with a real person and a real problem. One is in use today, and three more are on the bench.

See the venturesEmail the studio
Two halves of one face: on the left a watercolour portrait of the founder, on the right the same face drawn as rows of wavering lines generated in code.
Left, a watercolour portrait of the founder, painted by another artist while she sat for an art class. Right, the same face as Claude draws it in code. The studio is named for that meeting point.

Where each invention is now

Every venture is shown at its real stage. The copper point marks where it is today.

UnladenIn use, early release76 versions, on Google Play in Australia and Canada EyeSpyDesignedInteractive demo online; the app is in development AutoDustDesigned, not yet builtConcept stage (TRL 3); seeking an engineering partner AreMeIdeaA concept for on-device identity checks; no patent filed

When something moves forward, this chart moves with it.

Unladen

Free, private check-ins shaped for the work people do, and for the hard stretches outside it. People check in after a shift, notice what they’re carrying, and find free support made for their kind of work.

  • Versions76, from paramedics and train drivers to carers, students and people in grief
  • WhereIn the browser at unladen.com.au, and on Google Play in Australia and Canada
  • PrivacyCheck-ins stay on the phone. No accounts, ads or tracking.
  • StageEarly release, being tested with the people it’s for
  • IncubatorUnladen Ward has a place in the first cohort of the University of Newcastle Health Innovation Incubator, 2026–27
Open UnladenGet it on Google Play
Unladen Rail open on a phone: a private check-in for train drivers.

How the studio works

Start with a person

Each invention is shaped around one group of people and what their day is really like, before it is shaped around a market.

Keep it private

When a product handles something personal, it stays on the person’s own device. Unladen has no accounts and no trackers, and AreMe is designed to match on the device, with no cloud.

Show the working

Every venture is shown at its real stage, and the studio says plainly how it uses AI. Read how I work with AI.

Maggie Hall (Ashlar M Hall), founder of Co-Synthesist, outdoors in a sun hat.

Maggie Hall (Ashlar M Hall), founder

Inventor, researcher, poet and visual artist, working from Merewether, Newcastle, with a BA in Fine Art and an MA in Creative Industries from the University of Newcastle, where she was awarded the Margaret Olley Memorial Scholarship in 2019.

Before the studio came a varied working life. She worked for the Migration Review Tribunal, assisted with hearings for the Refugee Review Tribunal, and served as a courtroom officer in the court system. In the 1990s she taught dance at the Arthur Murray and Fred Astaire studios. She has also worked as a special needs teacher’s aide, a dental nurse and a veterinary assistant, and volunteered at Taronga Zoo while studying animal care and husbandry.

Unladen grew from years spent beside people on their hardest days, in tribunals, courts and hospitals.

Her writing and research are at ashlarhall.com.

What’s next

These are plans, and this list changes as they do.

  • Unladen with workplacesSmall pilots with the organisations that support these workers, starting with rail.
  • Unladen in more countriesVersions shaped for Canada and Japan.
  • Unladen on iPhoneA release on the App Store.
  • An AutoDust prototypeA staged build with an engineering partner, then a supervised depot trial.

Talk to the studio

For investment, partnerships, pilots or press, email hello@co-synthesist.com. Every message is read by the founder.

Email the studio