On 24th August 2023, AGENET organized the second event in 2023 webinar series in collaboration with the Socio-Gerontechnology network. The webinar focused on Imaginations of emerging technology and data in the future of senior living and hosted Mikaela Hellstrand (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden), Miguel Gomez Hernandez (Monash University, Melbourne, Australia), Simone Anna Felding (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, DZNE, Witten, Germany).
In this joined AGENET and Socio-Gerontechnology network webinar, three early stage researchers presented their work around eldercare and future technologies envisioned by industry, governments, and older adults. They focused on smart homes technologies, social robots as well as data-driven approaches to care.
Departing from the speakers’ ethnographic research projects, the webinar addressed the following questions: How do technologies shape eldercare? How does care change with the introduction of social robots, smart home technologies and data-driven approaches? How can we study emerging technologies and future ethnographically? How do different stakeholders’ (e.g. industry, government) visions of future technologies influence eldercare? How can anthropologists and related disciplines help imagine and shape the future of technologies in elder care?
About the speakers:
Mikaela Hellstrand is a PhD candidate at the Division of Health Informatics and Logistics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Her PhD focuses on the use of health data within care for older adults – how it affects everyday care practices and the quality of care as experienced by older adults and care professionals. Her background is in social anthropology and sociology.
Miguel Gomez Hernandez is a PhD candidate at the Emerging Technologies Research Lab at Monash University. His PhD focuses on possible future scenarios of smart home living for older people imagined by older adults, industry, and governments. His background is a MSc in techno-anthropology, a dual BA in sociology and political science.
Simone Anna Felding is a social anthropologist doing her PhD at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Witten Germany as a part of the Marie Curie ITN network DISTINCT (www.dementiadistinct.com). Her PhD looks at the use of pet robots in nursing homes for people with dementia. She is the co-convenor of AGENET and part of the Socio-Gerontechnology events committee.