The AgeLab and Agnes

It’s not easy being 2)gray. For the first time ever， getting out of a car is 3)no picnic. My back is 4)hunched， and I’m holding on to 5)handrails as I 6)lurch upstairs. I’m 45， but I feel decades older because I’m wearing an Age Gain Now Empathy System， developed by researchers at the 7)Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).“Agnes，” they call it.

At first glance， it may look like a mere 8)souped-up 9)jump suit. A helmet， attached by cords to a 10)pelvic harness， 11)cramps my neck and 12)spine. Yellow-13)paned 14)goggles 15)muddy my vision. Plastic bands， running from the harness to each arm， clip my 16)wingspan. Compression knee- bands discourage bending. Plastic shoes， with uneven 17)Styrofoam pads for soles， throw off my center of gravity. Layers of surgical gloves make me 18)all thumbs. The age-empathy suit comes from the MIT AgeLab， where researchers designed Agnes to help product designers and marketers better understand older adults and create innovative products for them.

“Aging is a 19)multidisciplinary phenomenon， and it requires new tools to look at，” says Joseph Coughlin， director of AgeLab. “Agnes is one of those tools.”

AgeLab， like a handful of other research centers at universities and companies around the country， develops technologies to help older adults maintain their health， independence and quality of life. Companies come here to understand their target audience or to have their products， policies and services studied. Often， visitors learn hard truths at AgeLab: many older adults don’t like products， like big-button phones， that 20)telegraph agedness. “The reality is such that you can’t build an old man’s product， because a young man won’t buy it and an old man won’t buy it.” Professor Coughlin says.“With any luck， if I am successful， retailers won’t know they are putting things on the shelves for older adults.”

The number of people 65 and older is expected to more than double worldwide， from 523 million in 2010 to about 1.5 billion by 2050， according to estimates from the United Nations. Many economists view such an exploding population of seventyand eighty-somethings not as an asset， but as a 21)looming budget crisis. After all， by one estimate， treating 22)dementia worldwide already costs more than $600 billion annually. “No other force is likely to shape the future of national economic health， public finances and policy making，” analysts at 23)Standard Poor’s wrote in a recent report， “as the 24)irreversible rate at which the world’s population is aging.”

But 25)longevity-focused researchers， including Professor Coughlin， are 26)betting that baby boomers， unlike generations past， will not go gentle into the good night of long-term care. Devices for I’ve-fallenand-I-can’t-get-up 27)catastrophes， they say， represent the old business of old age. The new business of old age involves technologies and services that promote wellness， mobility， autonomy and social connectivity.

That’s the 28)upbeat message that Eric Dishman， the global director of health innovation at Intel， has been trying to get across to policy makers and industry executives for more than a decade. In his office in Beaverton， Ore.， he demonstrates some prototypes， like a social networking system for senior housing centers， that older Americans are already testing. Often， he says， 29)field studies of his gadgets result in“success catastrophes”—the devices prove so popular that testers and their families are 30)loath to return them. “There is an enormous market opportunity to deliver technology and services that allow for wellness and prevention and lifestyle enhancement，”he says. “Whichever countries or companies are at the 31)forefront of that are going to own the 32)category.”

The Mirabella， a new $130 million 33)high-rise in the South Waterfront section of Portland， Ore.， may be the greenest luxury retirement community in the nation. The building has solar-heated hot water， a garage where 34)valets stack cars in racks atop one another and sensors that turn off the lights when stairways are empty. However， the Mirabella also aspires to be the grayest—by providing an opportunity to develop and test the latest home-health technology and design concepts for older adults.

As part of that project， the company spent nearly a half-million dollars to install 35)fiber optics cables so that Mirabella residents could be encouraged to volunteer for a “living laboratory” program in which wireless motion sensors， installed in their apartments， track their mobility and health status in real time. About 30 older adults in the greater Portland area have volunteered to participate in the program.

Dorothy Rutherford， 86， a 36)petite 37)redhead with a 38)deadpan wit， is one of them. And she is a model for the kind of independent aging， 39)abetted by technology that the researchers hope to encourage. She gives me a tour of the equipment that researchers have installed in her apartment. Sensors that monitor the speed and frequency of her activity 40)dot the ceilings and cling to furniture， appliances and doors.

“I have no worries about privacy 41)whatsoever，” she declares， waving at the ceiling. “They are just sensors， not video cameras.” A wireless smart pillbox reminds her to take her daily vitamins. A computer on which she

阿格尼斯與老齡實驗室

身為老人并不輕松。我有史以來第一次覺得從汽車里出來不是件容易的事情。我彎腰駝背，扶著扶手蹣跚上樓。我45歲，但是因為身穿由麻省理工學院的研究人員研發的年歲增長即時同感系統——一件名為“阿格尼斯”的外套，我覺得自己比實際年齡老了幾十歲。

乍看起來，這套裝置好似一件經改裝而變得極其引人注目的連身衣。一頂通過繩索連到褲腰部安全帶的頭盔，限制了我的脖子和脊柱的活動限度。黃色鏡片的護目鏡模糊了我的視線。從兩個衣袖分別連到褲腰部安全帶的塑料繩索，限制了我雙臂的活動限度。膝蓋部的壓縮帶束縛了雙膝的彎曲。墊有不均勻發泡膠鞋墊的塑料鞋，使我失去了重心。多層的外科手術手套讓我的手指變得笨拙。這件老齡同感外套來自麻省理工學院的老齡實驗室，研究人員設計這件外套旨在幫助產品設計師和營銷人員更好地理解老年人，從而為他們創造出適用的創新產品。

“老齡化是一個涉及多個領域的現象，它需要有新的工具來應對，”老齡實驗室主管約瑟夫·考夫林說，“阿格尼斯就是其中一種工具。”

如同遍及美國的其他一些大學和公司的研究中心一樣，老齡實驗室旨在開發新的技術幫助老年人保持健康、獨立和生活質量。各大公司來到老齡實驗室則是為了更好地了解老年人這個目標消費群體， 或是為了檢驗其公司的產品、政策和服務。通常，在老齡實驗室，參觀者會了解到一些殘酷的現實：許多老年人不喜歡昭示老年人身份的產品，例如大按鍵的手機。……