TAGlab: what kind of a lab is this?
When I step into Technolgies for Aging Gracefully lab, (TAGlab) at University of Toronto, there are no white coats. No test tubes no microscopes and certainly no rats or mice. The whiteboards contain no complicated mathematical equations. Nor is there a healthcare professional waiting to take your blood, urine or other specimen to analyze what’s going on inside you.
Nonetheless, TAGlab fits the Webster Dictionary defintion of a laboratory, albeit focused on technology solutions, specifically: the intersection of aging and technology, seeking to identify and address common issues of aging where technology can provide some benefit.
a laboratory is a place equipped for experimental study in a science or for testing and analysis
Science and scientists at TAGlab
Computer, Social, Behavioural Scientists work together with Psychologists, Ethnographers, User Experience Experts, Industrial Designers and health care professionals – all contributing to research into the social contexts of aging.
Sean Doughty
For example Sean Doughty, at 19 is in his first year of computer science. His experience with seniors volunteering as a lifeguard at Assisted Facilities drew him to TAGlab
Nadia Nasser
With a Masters Degree in Psychology, Nadia Nasser grabbed the opportunity to work at TAGlab:
“I was very close to my grandmother and visited her regularly until she died. I miss that connection with seniors, so I’m happy to be an environment that focuses on seniors and maximizing their capabilities.”
Tho her job description is ‘transcriber’ she’s expanding her expertise – which will hold her in good stead, as she pursues her future as a psychologist:
“I’ve been doing phone interviews – which is teaching me a new skill: to develop rapport without visual cues – body language – to add to the information. But when I’m transcribing, I make notes of any sighs, silences, laughter to make the end result richer.”
The name of the game: Connectivity, Creativity and Collaboration
Bearing in mind that our needs and abilities change in the aging process, TAGlab’s mission is to create products that are easy, intuitive and delightful to use is the mission and mandate.
- Online Social Gaming Environments: Seniors Poker, brain child of Nick Shim who left his lucrative career as Electronic Arts Software Engineer to join TAGla
- ALLT: Large print listening and talking eBooks, with its lead Cosmin Munteanu, Assistant Professor at the Institute for Communication, Culture, Information, and Technology (University of Toronto at Mississauga), and Associate Director of the Technologies for Aging Gracefully lab.
- Vocab Nomad: for Carrie Demmans Epp,the focus is helping second language learners and speakers through context-sensitive mobile devices
- Digital Life Histories: explores the use of digital multimedia to stimulate recall, reminiscence, and social engagement in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)
Such is recognition of TAGlab’s work, that Prof Ron Baecker was awarded funding by Canada’s national research network in technology and aging, Aging Gracefully across Environments to Ensure Well-being, Engagement and Long Life NCE Inc. (AGE-WELL NCE).
Promoting Social Connectedness through New and Innovative Communications Platforms
Research indicates that as many as 43% of older adults living in the community feel socially isolated. The negative effects are well documented: depression, stress, functional decline and death. The goal of this project is to design, create, test and where possible bring to the commercial market new communication technologies for older adults. This project will answer the essential question: can these technologies be helpful in reducing older adults’ feelings of isolation.
PROJECT TEAM & AFFILIATIONS:
Project Leads: Ron Baecker, University of Toronto; Sandra Black, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
The AGE-WELL NCE is a national research network in technology and aging whose aim is to help older Canadians to maintain their independence, health and quality of life through accessible technologies that increase their safety and security, support their independent living, and enhance their social participation.spanning 25 universities and research centres across Canada with more than 80 industry, government, and nonprofit partners
Sister’s Influence:
Prof Ron Baecker’s vision for connectivity using technology was born of reflections of his late sister’s last years, living in a rehab facility with Multiple Scleroses, isolated from her family.
Connectivity expanded to creating collaborative memory aids. sparked by words the regular person is not expected to understand: cognitive prosthetics.
But that’s one of my missions: to celebrate, in plain language, the purpose and passions, the goals and objectives of TAGlab.
An example of cognitive prosthetic: a calculator. Something that supports the brain’s functions.
More about your blogger, Kathy Kastner