The Advertiser: LifeLab® at Tonsley a top technology testbed for senior solutions

The following article by Clare Peddie was originally published by The Advertiser on 11 October 2018.

Older South Australians are road-testing, co-designing and future-proofing new products and services at a new research facility at Tonsley.

Yesterday, Premier Steven Marshall launched the Global Centre for Modern Ageing, which has $10 million in seed funding from his Government, spread over four years.

“The Centre will help businesses, organisations and individuals to devise, build and commercialise products and services that enable people in their 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and more to live and age well,” he said.

“My Government is proud that South Australia is home to this initiative, which is the leading organisation operating in this space not only nationally but more broadly in the Southern Hemisphere, and which sits among the best-in-class globally.”

The showpiece is a living laboratory called LifeLab, built to replicate a suburban home with modern appliances.

Director Veera Mustonen, fresh from Finland, is working with senior South Australians who give their time to help guide developers.

“We want to engage older people to co-design, alongside entrepreneurs and researchers, future services and solutions that better match the real needs and expectations of older people,” she said.

“How will they be embedded in the daily practices and lives of people? How will they really add value?”

So far LifeLab co-designer Vicki Jarnis, 66, of Salisbury East has enjoyed working on a prototype Prohab device for exercise and rehabilitation that will be adapted for seniors.

“I felt I had a positive, empowering part to play in product design and development,” she said.

“These are the sorts of services and products that would be of benefit to myself one day, or to loved ones.”