Feel like an 80-year-old
Cambridge has developed a suit that makes a person old
Scientists believe that this will help solve the problem of age
Tom Balaev, theBabel
The AgeLab laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has created a "sudden aging suit": in it, a young person feels the same as older people – it is difficult for him to move, tactile sensations are dulled, the body "gets heavier", simple actions require a lot of effort. The researchers believe that this will help to understand the psychological discomfort experienced by aging people and develop suitable products and services for them. The text about the laboratory was published in The New Yorker magazine – here is a brief retelling of it.
Aging occurs in two ways. Either slowly and imperceptibly, or quickly and finally. When you age slowly, you start to forget something, sometimes the lower back hurts, gray hair and wrinkles around the eyes appear. Rapid aging suddenly: you abruptly begin to see or hear poorly, break your hip and can no longer walk.
To experience how rapid aging occurs, you can come to the AgeLab laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and put on Agnes (according to the first letters from Age Gain Now Empathy System – a system for experiencing the acceleration of age). AgeLab founder and director Joseph Coughlin calls Agnes a "sudden aging" suit.
It has several components. These are yellow glasses – convey the feeling of age–related yellowing of the eye lens; a safety belt for a boxer's neck – simulates a decrease in the mobility of the cervical spine; ribbons around the elbows, wrists and knees – hinder movement; boots with foam tactile padding - to feel your steps less; special gloves in which the acuity of tactile perception is dulled, and finger movements they become constrained.
When you put on a suit, at first you feel like the body is getting a little heavier, it becomes a little harder to move, and the sensations are dulled. Very soon it starts to infuriate – even small tasks become more demanding. Coughlin says, "Take a cup from the top shelf," and you realize that it takes a lot of effort. It's annoying, and after half an hour anger comes: "Damn it, what's wrong with the world?" So you realize not only the physical difficulties that appear with age, but also psychological discomfort.
AgeLab develops technologies, products and services for the ever-growing market of aging people. Coughlin himself is over 50, he looks like an old–fashioned American engineer - he wears a bow tie and heavy glasses with red frames. He speaks easily and almost aphoristically. "In the last century, we achieved the greatest breakthrough – people got 30 extra years of life. But we don't know what to do with them! Why don't we create new technologies and rituals for people as they age?"
AgeLab has more than just a "sudden aging" suit. Here you can see the Japanese robotic seal Paro. He makes sounds and moves his head – this calms aging people, especially patients with Alzheimer's disease. There are also clouds with words that show the difference in the attitude of women and men to retirement. Women often use the words "freedom", "time", "family". Men – "retirement", "rest", "hobby".
Business in old age is impossible – but products for millennials are suitable for older people
AgeLab has discovered that developing products and services for the elderly cannot become a business. They don't want to buy anything that reminds them of their age. It turns out that it is better for people to suffer from old age than to admit that they are getting old and suffer less. This paradox is not new. The American food company Heinz back in the 1950s tried to promote the Senior Foods line - in fact, baby food for the elderly. The idea failed. There was also an advertisement for a personal emergency response system – a device in the form of a neck pendant with an emergency call button. In the advertisement, an elderly woman screamed: The pendant was not in demand – many elderly people preferred to stay in distress rather than press the button and admit that they were old.
AgeLab has rediscovered an old truth – psychological comfort is more important to us than practicality. Researchers believe that it is most effective to develop products that resemble products for millennials. For example, hearing aids similar to headphones. This convergence of concepts has already happened in the past. Coughlin cites the example of a microwave oven – the device was not developed for the elderly, but it helps them a lot in everyday life. It's the same with food delivery.
Coughlin says aging people need daily help. But they don't want to get it in nursing homes. They want to grow old comfortably at home, with their wives or husbands and memories. Coughlin believes that the answers to two questions help determine whether this is possible in each case: "Who will replace the burned-out light bulb" and "How will you buy ice cream". The scientist is sure that it is necessary to solve these problems, and not to build nursing homes.
When you take off Agnes – first shoes, then gloves, then belts, you experience a whole range of feelings. You can move again without effort, be independent. You remember that being young does not mean being in a state of ecstasy, it just means not making extra efforts for simple actions. Taking off a suit is like pulling a splinter out of a leg. This is not happiness in the highest sense, but a return to not thinking about the limitations of your body.
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