AGNES Appears at 2024 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas
by Adam Felts
AgeLab researchers Taylor Patskanick and Samantha Brady attended the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to present on the Lab’s research and outreach and demonstrate AGNES, the Age Gain Now Empathy System. CES, which showcases new products by consumer technology companies, is an annual event in Las Vegas that draws over 150,000 attendees.
Patskanick and Brady were invited guests to the convention by AARP’s AgeTech Collaborative, which nurtures innovation in the aging technology field. Their booth at the convention was focused on demonstrating and allowing people to interact with AGNES. The researchers spoke with visitors—who typically worked in the tech industry—about the use of AGNES as a tool to better understand the needs and experiences of older adults. Visitors could try on and deploy elements of AGNES throughout the AARP AgeTech pavilion, allowing them to encounter new products for older adults while “experiencing” old age themselves.
In addition to exhibiting AGNES, Patskanick and Brady gave a presentation at the AARP’s main stage on the AgeLab’s research, including on changing demographics and the AgeLab’s C3 Connected Home Logistics Consortium. They also illustrated some important principles (and pitfalls) for age tech design with an “in” and “out” list for designers: focusing exclusively on health issues, stereotyping older adults, and developing in siloes were “out;” designing holistically, accounting for diversity, and engaging across sectors were “in.” Somewhat enigmatically, social robots were listed as both “out” and “in.”
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