Design for Ageing
In today’s world, more people are living longer and staying active into later life. New technologies are being designed to not only support health, fitness, and monitoring as people get older, but to also support social participation and engagement in enriching and enjoyable activities. Our research aims to establish a nuanced understanding of the role of new technologies in the lives of older adults and design systems to enhance and social and emotional wellbeing of older adults.
Current projects
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Digital Storytelling with Older Adults (TALES)
This project aims to investigate the opportunities and challenges of co-designing and using new technologies (e.g., hybrid digital boardgames; mixed reality; artificial intellengence) for interactive life storytelling with older adults.
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Reimagining music therapy in dementia care (MATCH)
This project aims to develop accessible tools and strategies to empower caregivers and people living with dementia to support their needs, and new ways to help with using music therapeutically in their day-to-day care.
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Combatting social isolation through video connections
This project evaluates Dossy, a video calling app that has been designed with the needs and capabilities of older adults in mind, to produce new knowledge about how video calling applications can support social connectedness for older adults.
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Emerging technologies for enrichment in old age
This project investigates older adults’ experiences with emerging technologies, such as virtual reality, social robots, and online games, aiming to identify strategies for good practice in the design and deployment of these technologies for enrichment in old age.
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Death and technology
A long-running program of research exploring how digital technologies are increasingly used to commemorate, memorialise and dispose of the dead.
Completed projects
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Social robots and virtual assistants for older people
This project investigates how voice, gaze and gesture affects a gamer’s experience such as immersion, embodiment, identity and control.
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Ageing and avatars
This project aims to identify how NUI technologies can be designed and used to facilitate active social participation for older people constrained by limited mobility.
Theme lead
Researchers
Publications
Our research team has published book chapters and numerous papers in prestigious journals and conferences, including the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), the ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), the Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (OzCHI), International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (IJHCS), International Journal of Social Robotics, JMIR Aging, and Information Processing & Management.
Zhao, W., Kelly, R. M., Rogerson, M. J., & Waycott, J. (2025). Older Adults Co-Creating and Experiencing VR Garden Tours: Developing a Participatory VR Storytelling Framework. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, Volume 205, 103656, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103656.
Schmidt, L., Zhao, W., Sparrow, L. A., Rogerson, M. J., Gibbs, M., & Waycott, J. (2025). The Emerging Role of AI in Life Storytelling for Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Commercial Apps. In Proceedings of the 37th Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 600-610). https://doi.org/10.1145/3764687.3769909
Garcia, E., Zhao, W., Kelly, R. M., Buchanan, G., & Waycott, J. (2025). Beyond Monitoring: Older Adults Using Wearable Activity Trackers for Active Health Management and Behaviour Change. In Proceedings of the 37th Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 239-252). https://doi.org/10.1145/3764687.3764695
Kelly, R. M., Xing, Y., Baker, S., & Waycott, J. (2024). "More Than Just Holding the iPad": Family Members' Perspectives on the Work of Video Calling in Aged Care. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact., 8(CSCW2), Article 468. https://doi.org/10.1145/3687007
Xing, Y., Kelly, R. M., Rogerson, M. J., Waycott, J., & Aslam, K. (2024). Designing for Inclusive Experiences: Investigating Opportunities for Supporting Older Adults in Community-based Social Programs. In Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Honolulu, HI, USA, Article 1011. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3641892
Zhao, W., Kelly, R. M., Rogerson, M. J., & Waycott, J. (2024). Older adults imagining future technologies in participatory design workshops: Supporting continuity in the pursuit of meaningful activities. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’24), Honolulu, US, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3641887
Garcia Reyes, E. P., Kelly, R., Buchanan, G., & Waycott, J. (2023). Understanding Older Adults’ Experiences With Technologies for Health Self-management: Interview Study. JMIR Aging, 6, e43197. https://doi.org/10.2196/43197
Kelly, R. M., Xing, Y., Baker, S., & Waycott, J. (2023). Video Calls as a Replacement for Family Visits During Lockdowns in Aged Care: Interview Study With Family Members. JMIR aging, 6, e40953. https://doi.org/10.2196/40953
Thach, K. S., Lederman, R., & Waycott, J. (2023). Key Considerations for The Design of Technology for Enrichment in Residential Aged Care: An Ethnographic Study. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581176
Waycott, J., Davidson, J., Baker, F., & Yuan, S. (2023). Supporting Creativity in Aged Care: Lessons from Group Singing, Music Therapy, and Immersive Virtual Reality Programs. In Proceedings of the 34th Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Canberra, ACT, Australia, 272–282. https://doi.org/10.1145/3572921.3572940
Xing, Y., Kelly, R. M., Rogerson, M. J., & Waycott, J. (2023). "Keeping the program going": Technology use by community organizations to support the social connectedness of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 7(CSCW2), Article 241. https://doi.org/10.1145/3610032
Yuan, S., Coghlan, S., Lederman, R., & Waycott, J. (2023). Ethical Design of Social Robots in Aged Care: A Literature Review Using an Ethics of Care Perspective. International Journal of Social Robotics, 15(9), 1637-1654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-023-01053-6
Zhao, W., Kelly, R. M., Rogerson, M. J., & Waycott, J. (2023). Older adults using technology for meaningful activities during COVID-19: An analysis through the lens of self-determination theory. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Hamburg, Germany, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580839
Zhao, W., Kelly, R. M., & Waycott, J. (2023). Technology Deployment for Social Connection in Residential Aged Care: Care and Technology Providers' Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544549.3585662
Waycott, J., Kelly, R. M., Baker, S., Barbosa Neves, B., Thach, K. S., & Lederman, R. (2022). The role of staff in facilitating immersive virtual reality for enrichment in aged care: An ethic of care perspective. In Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New Orleans, LA, USA, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3501956
Waycott, J., Zhao, W., Kelly, R. M., & Robertson, E. (2022). Technology-Mediated Enrichment in Aged Care: Survey and Interview Study. JMIR Aging. https://doi.org/10.2196/31162
Yuan, S., Coghlan, S., Lederman, R., & Waycott, J. (2022). Social Robots in Aged Care: Care Staff Experiences and Perspectives on Robot Benefits and Challenges. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6(CSCW2), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1145/3555220
Zhao, W., Kelly, R. M., Rogerson, M. J., & Waycott, J. (2022). Understanding Older Adults’ Participation in Online Social Activities: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Proc. ACM Hum. -Comput. Interact, 6(CSCW2), Article 470. https://doi.org/10.1145/3555571
Coghlan, S., Waycott, J., Lazar, A., & Neves, B. B. (2021). Dignity, Autonomy, and Style of Company: Dimensions Older Adults Consider for Robot Companions. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 5(CSCW1), Article 104. https://doi.org/10.1145/3449178
Webber, S., Baker, S., & Waycott, J. (2021). Virtual visits: Reminiscence in residential aged care with digital mapping technologies. Australasian Journal on Ageing. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.12902
Zhao, W., Baker, S., & Waycott, J. (2021). Challenges of deploying VR in aged care: A two-phase exploration study. In Proceedings of the 32nd Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (OzCHI ’20), Sydney, NSW, Australia, 87–98. https://doi.org/10.1145/3441000.3441018
Baker, S., Waycott, J., Robertson, E., Carrasco, R., Neves, B. B., Hampson, R., & Vetere, F. (2020). Evaluating the use of interactive virtual reality technology with older adults living in residential aged care. Information Processing & Management, 57(3), 102-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2019.102105
Thach, K. S., Lederman, R., & Waycott, J. (2020). How older adults respond to the use of Virtual Reality for enrichment: A systematic review. In 32nd Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 303–313. https://doi.org/10.1145/3441000.3441003
Waycott, J., Vetere, F., & Ozanne, E. (2019). Building social connections: a framework for enriching older adults’ social connectedness through information and communication technologies. In B. B. Neves & F. Vetere (Eds.), Ageing and Digital Technology (pp. 65-82). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3693-5_5