Abstract
As education adapts to the realities of a longevity society, new approaches are needed to engage learners in preparing for their long-term futures, particularly around financial well-being. This preliminary study explores how immersive technologies can enhance educational experiences in longevity planning by combining augmented reality (AR) with tangible artifacts, the Longevity Planning Blocks (LPBs). We designed and prototyped three longevity coaching experiences—using projection AR, tablet AR, and wearable AR—to investigate their effectiveness in communicating abstract longevity planning concepts. Nine Boston-based participants aged 35–45 engaged in a 30-minute coaching session using one of three AR modalities, followed by reflective feedback captured through the Think Aloud method. Drawing from constructivist learning theory, we assessed how each immersive experience supports key pedagogical conditions: contextual relevance, social negotiation, multimodal interaction, self-direction, and metacognitive awareness. Our findings suggest that projection AR encourages facilitator-led trust-building; tablet AR offers accessible, self-paced exploration; and wearable AR supports private, self-reflective assessment. In all three modalities, AR enhanced the use of the LPBs, as tangible artifacts, helping participants external ize abstract concepts and personalize their learning experience. This research contributes to the field of design education by demonstrating how different immersive, service-based experiences can be structured to support deeper engagement with complex, sensitive topics. Ultimately, we demonstrate that immersive educational services— grounded in tangible interaction and thoughtful facilitation—can empower learners to better prepare for the multidimensional realities of aging and longevity.
Keywords
Longevity Planning; Service Design; Augmented Reality; Immersive Technologies
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.100
Citation
Lee, S., Engineering, M., Coughlin, J., Hodara, S.,and Yang, M.(2025) Educating for Longevity: The Role of Immersive Technologies in Service Learning, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.100
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 12 - Design Education
Educating for Longevity: The Role of Immersive Technologies in Service Learning
As education adapts to the realities of a longevity society, new approaches are needed to engage learners in preparing for their long-term futures, particularly around financial well-being. This preliminary study explores how immersive technologies can enhance educational experiences in longevity planning by combining augmented reality (AR) with tangible artifacts, the Longevity Planning Blocks (LPBs). We designed and prototyped three longevity coaching experiences—using projection AR, tablet AR, and wearable AR—to investigate their effectiveness in communicating abstract longevity planning concepts. Nine Boston-based participants aged 35–45 engaged in a 30-minute coaching session using one of three AR modalities, followed by reflective feedback captured through the Think Aloud method. Drawing from constructivist learning theory, we assessed how each immersive experience supports key pedagogical conditions: contextual relevance, social negotiation, multimodal interaction, self-direction, and metacognitive awareness. Our findings suggest that projection AR encourages facilitator-led trust-building; tablet AR offers accessible, self-paced exploration; and wearable AR supports private, self-reflective assessment. In all three modalities, AR enhanced the use of the LPBs, as tangible artifacts, helping participants external ize abstract concepts and personalize their learning experience. This research contributes to the field of design education by demonstrating how different immersive, service-based experiences can be structured to support deeper engagement with complex, sensitive topics. Ultimately, we demonstrate that immersive educational services— grounded in tangible interaction and thoughtful facilitation—can empower learners to better prepare for the multidimensional realities of aging and longevity.