Technologies to Support Aging-in-Place
The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technologies to Support Aging-in-Place for People with Long-Term Disabilities (RERC TechSAge) is a collaborative grant center based at Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Georgia State University. Founded in 2013, TechSAge features multidisciplinary research, development, and training projects that are dedicated to understanding the needs of, and developing supportive technologies for, people aging with long-term vision, hearing, and mobility disabilities.
TechSAge State of the Science Conference
TechSAge hosted its second State of the Science Conference May 4-5, 2022 at the Illini Center in Chicago, IL. This two-day hybrid event highlighted research advances and priorities in technologies to support people aging with disability. Sessions focused on our four areas of research: Support Safety and Independence in Everyday Home Activities; Maintain Health and Wellness; Enhance Connectivity and Community Mobility; and Facilitate Caregiving. Recorded sessions now available!
Featured Article
Recommendations for Home Environment Design: Aging with Mobility Disability
A new TechSAge article in the Journal of Aging and Environment explores the challenges older adults aging with mobility disabilities experience in navigating everyday activities at home. Through an archival analysis of the Aging Concerns, Challenges, and Everyday Solution Strategies (ACCESS) study, researchers discovered that activity challenges come from intrinsic factors (i.e., mobility limitations, strength, health conditions) as well as extrinsic factors (i.e., transferring and physical access). The article features constructed home environment design strategies that could meet the needs of people aging with mobility disabilities. Full article, by Widya Ramadhani and Wendy Rogers, available upon request.
Staff Spotlight: Ki Lim
Ki Lim is a student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology. He is a research assistant at the Human Factors and Aging Laboratory. On TechSAge, Ki supports the voice-activated digital assistants research and development projects. He has also been involved in the development of a new ‘TechSAge Tool’, how-to guide, on performing task analyses (coming soon). Ki is interested in exploring the different ways we can use modern technology to alleviate challenges that older adults with disabilities may experience. One fun fact about Ki is that he loves watching movies and recently came across "Everything Everywhere All at Once", which is his new favorite movie of all time.
Become a Research Participant!
We maintain a registry of names of people who are interested in being contacted about research studies. Opportunities include: surveys, focus groups, interviews, and technology evaluations. Depending on the study, you may be able to participate on the phone, online, on campus, at your home, or in other locations.
Interested in joining? We need to ask a you a few questions about yourself to see which studies you might be eligible for and match your interests with our researchers. Complete the brief survey (5-10 minutes) online here: