Abstract
Design is increasingly engaging with the body through soft systems, wearables, and responsive materials, exploring how material interactions shape experiences of care and inclusion. This paper examines the Age Gain Now Empathy System (AGNES) - a wearable suit simulating the chronic physical conditions and functional changes associated with older age - as a critical, soma-focused design intervention. Drawing on auto-ethnographic reflection and participant observation, we present a theoretical and methodological analysis. We argue that AGNES' critical materiality actively mediates how the ageing body is read and made visible, inviting embodied understanding and supporting co-creation partnerships. We analyse how this wearable shifts bodily perception and movement, serving as a tool to deconstruct normative assumptions about age and ability. Finally, we reflect on the ethics of employing a prosthetic system, offering AGNES as a model for how material-body interactions can resist extractive design practices and inform more inclusive approaches.
Keywords
Wearables and Soft Systems; Ageing; Material-Body Interactions; Critical Materiality
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2600
Citation
Cardamone, E., Brennan, T., Ashebir, S., D'Ambrosio, L., and Coughlin, J.F. (2026) AGNES as a Critical Wearable: Mediating Age, Materiality, and Embodied Expertise, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2600
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
AGNES as a Critical Wearable: Mediating Age, Materiality, and Embodied Expertise
Design is increasingly engaging with the body through soft systems, wearables, and responsive materials, exploring how material interactions shape experiences of care and inclusion. This paper examines the Age Gain Now Empathy System (AGNES) - a wearable suit simulating the chronic physical conditions and functional changes associated with older age - as a critical, soma-focused design intervention. Drawing on auto-ethnographic reflection and participant observation, we present a theoretical and methodological analysis. We argue that AGNES' critical materiality actively mediates how the ageing body is read and made visible, inviting embodied understanding and supporting co-creation partnerships. We analyse how this wearable shifts bodily perception and movement, serving as a tool to deconstruct normative assumptions about age and ability. Finally, we reflect on the ethics of employing a prosthetic system, offering AGNES as a model for how material-body interactions can resist extractive design practices and inform more inclusive approaches.