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HELLO FROM THE MIT AGELAB!
Although it still feels like deep winter here in Cambridge, I'm writing from the start of what promises to be a great spring semester, full of education, engagement, and research into life tomorrow. This past year, the AgeLab took on several exciting new directions in its research and outreach. We looked beyond the hardware and software of technologies for old age, investigating how tech-enabled services, especially those in the on-demand or sharing economies, stand to shake up the future of later life. We pushed harder into envisioning how, as we live longer, the field once known as retirement planning is becoming something else: longevity planning. In this new frame, investment in one's future becomes essential to a successful long life for people of all ages--even those as young as Millennials or Generation Z. And we produced important research on how increasingly automated systems in cars can optimally interact with users of all ages.
This past year, by the numbers, there were:
- 1000+ participants who took part in lab experiments exploring topics from automobile technology learning to retirement decision making.
- 3 continents where ethnographic work was conducted to investigate multigenerational household behaviors, older adult activity patterns, and technology adoption of families caring for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease.
- 10,000+ people who participated in AgeLab surveys, focus groups and online experiments providing new insights into health behaviors, well-being, the multigenerational workplace, technology use and retirement planning.
- 27 academic publications that appeared in refereed journals and conferences including
Accident Analysis & Prevention
Aging & Public Policy Report
Journal of Product Innovation Management
Journal of Robotics & Mechatronics
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction
Retirement Institute Review
Transportation Research Record
- 20 industry and media publications featured in such publications as
Washington Post
Slate
Huffington Post
- 8 new corporate research sponsors who joined the lab from banking, retail, consumer packed goods, Internet services, consumer electronics, life insurance, auto, and financial services sectors.
- 30 faculty, research staff and students working together at the Lab, spanning a wide variety of specialties within psychology, engineering, computer science/data sciences, gerontology, social work, marketing, anthropology, medicine, public health, urban planning, and political science.
You'll find some of our other notable events from the past semester below. Thank you so much for your continued support, and most importantly, here's to a better life tomorrow!
Sincerely,
Joseph Coughlin
Director, MIT AgeLab
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An Event at the MIT Media Lab
This past September, the MIT AgeLab was pleased to invite a group of cutting-edge thought leaders in both aging and the sharing/on-demand economy to convene for a-first-of-its-kind discussion.
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A Conversation with NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind
On Tuesday, Feb. 9th, Bryan Reimer, Associate Director of the New England University Transportation Center, engaged in a public dialogue with NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind, PhD, about the future of automated and autonomous driving at MIT's Kresge Auditorium.
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Including:
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When Legibility Saves Lives
The AgeLab has been investigating ways to measure the legibility of text read at-a-glance from digital screens, which is particularly relevant in a world of ever-present smartphones and integrated devices in the automobile. This new research article in the journal Ergonomics shows that factors such as the size, color, and even typeface of text can impact legibility, particularly for older users (and older starts at 30!).
Learn more.
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Interest Outstrips Awareness:
This study, published in the journal Gerontechnology
by Olivia DaDalt, Lisa D'Ambrosio, Birgit Kramer and AgeLab alum Arielle Burstein, found that although awareness among dementia caregivers of existing dementia technologies was low, there was significant interest in trying these newer technologies.
Find out more.
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- Ben Sawyer, PhD
- Carley Ward
- Elise Selinger, MCP
- Marika Psyhojos
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100 Years is normal. What now?
Leading financial advisors from the United States and Canada were invited to an AgeLab Roundtable discussion in October 2015 on the future of retirement planning and the evolving role of financial advice in a world where 100 years of living may become the new normal. Led by Director Joe Coughlin, AgeLab researchers shared their work and, along with industry participants, developed key insights and new research directions to transform retirement planning into the new business of longevity planning.
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STAY CONNECTED
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