The Show and Tell of Growing Old

NSCAD Professor builds aging suit so people can experience the effects of old age

NSCAD University professor Glen Hougan shows off the suit he designed so people could experience what it feels like to grow old. Credit: Tricia Hrycan

It's slick as a scuba diving suit and tight as spandex. Rough, clover-shaped handles can be turned right or left to adjust the restriction of movement. Put it on, turn the black knobs and your back is instantly humped. The space between your legs becomes smaller and smaller.
Walking becomes strenuous and running isn't an option. The neck brace stretches every muscle above the shoulders as the spinal cord begs for loosening. Ear plugs block the sounds of outside traffic along with a nearby cellphone ringing.

For many seniors, this is how they feel every day - only their pain and discomfort isn't a suit they can remove.
Glen Hougan, a professor at NSCAD University, is so fascinated with the physiological conditions of aging that he built this aging suit so people can experience what it feels like to grow old.

"I looked at the major fundamental shift in society. That interests me because people are now living longer than ever before. Designs for the elderly are poor and I thought I should accommodate to elderly needs," he says.

Life expectancy at age 65 has increased in the last 20 years, Statistics Canada reports. In 1985, a 65-year-old could expect to live another 17 years; in 2005, a person the same age could anticipate living another 20 years. People aged 65 and over account for 13.7 per cent of the Canadian population and this is expected to rise.

Hougan and his students worked with Spencer House, a Halifax community centre for older adults, to research how the elderly move and feel. The director of Spencer House, Deborah Dostal, is a fan of Hougan's research.

"He created an intergenerational space and put wheels on everything to make movement easier. His students were wonderful and he was very encouraging," she says.

Hougan, 47, used to teach a course that focused on aging but now teaches a User Centre Design course covering various topics, including age. The course no longer offered was called Design for an Aging Population. In this class, Hougan's students were asked to recreate the aging suit, using his original as a guide.

"I would have them do a physical profile on how people age and design a suit for what it would feel like to physically age."

Hougan designed the suit so students could understand the process of aging. His conference papers refer to the goals he wished to achieve by teaching others about the age development.

"The rationale for the research was that in order to design better products, the students first had to develop a less stereotypical understanding of the elderly experience," one paper explains.

Better products include putting wheels on everyday items such as telephones and remotes instead of making buttons bigger.

The aging suit allows people of any age to experience old age. For some, age is just a number but for Hougan, his aging suit is the critical changes the larger number represents.

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