The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that one in every eight persons in the United States are age 65 or older. In 2009, there were 39.6 million elderly people in America, but estimates show that this number will nearly double to 72.1 million by 2030. In 2030, older Americans will account for 19 percent of the population.
That’s a significant portion of the population and a pool of people that have special medical and health needs based on their age. So researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a high-tech aging suit with intentions of helping product designers prepare the world for our aging nation.
What they’ve dubbed as AGNES -- Age Gain Now Empathy System -- places the wearer in the shoes of a person in their 70s suffering from advanced diabetes and osteoarthritis.
"It's meant to create an 'aha!' moment for the wearer, where they understand what it's like to be old, and to help them understand what needs to be done for a product or service to make it more user-friendly for an aging population," said Joseph Coughlin, one of the suit's creators and the founder and director of MIT's AgeLab, a multi-disciplinary research program created to study the behavior and quality of life of people 45 and older.
The suit includes plastic bands that restrict movement, glasses that make vision dull and yellowed, shoes that throw the wearer off balance, harnesses that make the body hunch over, and gloves that make fingers clumsy and awkward.
“AGNES is part of an overall design trend focused on making the world easier for everyone to navigate through, but particularly people whose mobility or senses have been dulled by age,” according to president and chief executive of a New York City geriatric center, Daniel Reingold.
The researchers at MIT first developed the AGNES suit in 2005 but have since been making upgrades and adjustments. Today’s version, AGNES 2.0, is a further refined version of the first but an even more advanced version is already in the works. The next generation of the AGNES suit will contain more sensors and be better able to run objective data.
This trend toward making products more elderly-friendly extends to automobiles, interior design, food packaging and labeling and public transportation, to name a few.
Besides the suit acting as a model for product developers, researchers say the suit has had a positive affect in the public sphere. Young people are getting a glimpse of what they may be faced with if they don’t take better care of their health.
Expect to see more user-friendly functionality in things we use on a day-to-day basis in the future. Which, if it’s easier for the elderly, it would be beneficial for all age groups.
"If we design it correctly, if we make it easier for seniors, we make it easier for all," Coughlin said. “(AGNES) actually is a real force for improving the experience of people of all ages across their life span."
Sources:
High Tech Suit Lets You Know What It’s Like To Be Old. HealthDay. Web. 1 Nov. 2011.
http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=652401
Department of Health and Human Services. Administration of Aging. Web. 1 Nov. 2011.
http://www.aoa.gov/aoaroot/aging_statistics/index.aspx
Bailey Mosier is a freelance journalist living in Orlando, Florida. She received a Masters of Journalism from Arizona State University, played D-I golf, has been editor of a Scottsdale-based golf magazine and currently contributes to GolfChannel.com. She aims to live an active, healthy lifestyle full of sunshine and smiles.
Reviewed November 1, 2011
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith