AgeLab Tables and Keynotes at Florida Association of Counties Conference
by Adam Felts
Sophia Ashebir, Taylor Brennan, and Luke Yoquinto made up a contingent of researchers showcasing the AgeLab’s research and perspective at the annual conference for the Florida Association of Counties.
The conference is a venue for business, non-profit, and government leaders to discuss development opportunities and policy issues for Florida’s counties, which are self-governing localities, and the whole state.
Florida famously has one of the largest populations of older adults in the United States, in part due to the large number of retirees who migrate to the state, resulting in communities with distinct wants and needs for their public services.
The AgeLab was invited to the conference to provide its perspective on demographic change, innovation and aging, and how to design with older people’s needs in mind. They showcased components of AGNES, the AgeLab’s aging simulator and empathy tool—and suited up a county commissioner in the full AGNES suit—as well as animal social robots designed for older adults.
The researchers also presented two posters summarizing AgeLab research on transportation and urban planning: a study on the 85+ age cohort’s experiences navigating driving cessation, and a study on Metropolitan Planning Organizations’ preparedness to respond to shifting US age demographics.
Luke Yoquinto gave the keynote talk to close the conference, discussing the global demographic shift toward an older population, how older adults have been historically neglected as consumers, and what it means to successfully design products and services with aging in mind.
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