The New York Times began their most recent Sunday Business section with an article highlighted with Agnes, the acronym Age Gain Now Empathy System. What follows is from a lecture by Joseph F. Coughlin of MIT's AgeLab:

About the Lecture

If the prospect of aging and infirmity seems remote, you could use some time with AGNES (Age Gain Now Empathy System), a wearable apparatus that approximates "what it feels like to be a 75-year-old woman." Joseph Coughlin’s MIT AgeLab designed the suit to promote better understanding of the challenges of aging — part of a larger effort to address the evolving demographic reality in the US, where a baby boomer turns 64 every seven seconds, 85-year-olds are the fastest growing age cohort, and most of the longest-lived will be women. Coughlin believes society must anticipate the needs of this rapidly emerging population, particularly where transportation is concerned.

Coughlin draws from a flurry of statistics a vivid portrait of the near future when great numbers of people, mainly women, will not only live longer, but alone. In the US, many of these seniors expect to continue working and playing, sometimes battling chronic illness, but above all, maintaining independence and freedom. Given these expectations, "What is driving?" asks Coughlin. “Everything … It’s the glue that holds life together."

Coughlin sees "transportation as a function of all the other activities you do." How then will an aging, frequently ailing, isolated population meet its needs for healthcare, shopping, work, leisure, especially when driving becomes a challenge, if not an impossibility? 

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