The latest AARP study shows that the 50+ population is willing to embrace modern wearable technology though these devices lack design and utility that would encourage long-term use or adoption.

The study, in which Georgia Tech Research Institute’s HomeLab partnered with the recently launched Project Catalyst: The Power of We initiative, involved 92 older consumers who got one of seven popular devices to use at home for six weeks in their daily lives.

At the end of the six-week trial, 71% of participants reported increased awareness of activity, sleep or eating habits; 45% reported increased motivation; 46% said they changed their behavior; and 67% of participants reported the activity and sleep tracker to be beneficial or of value.

“Despite what some people may think, the study showed that consumers in the 50-plus age group enjoy interacting with technology when it provides them with constructive and usable feedback on their goals,” said Dr. Brad Fain, a director of Georgia Tech’s HomeLab and principal research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). “They are motivated to use new products that help them achieve good health and avoid illness – important findings as we seek to improve technology and make life easier for this underserved population.”

The study involved 92 older consumers who got one of seven popular devices to use at home for six weeks in their daily lives.The study, “Building a Better Tracker: Older Consumers Weigh in On Activity and Sleep Monitoring Devices,” suggested the following recommendations for improving wearable devices:

• Make trackers better able to share information on health goals
• Simplify set up, make them unobtrusive to wear and easier to maintain
• Provide more features like timely alerts and instantaneous access to information
• Providing an explanation of how activity and sleep trackers collect data
• Ensuring robust syncing capabilities
• Ensuring comfort while wearing the tracker
• Enabling timely notifications targeted to 50-plus consumers
• Providing a display for instant information access
• Incorporating additional sensors related to health-specific conditions

The next Project Catalyst study is already underway at the Georgia Tech’s HomeLab and looks at medication management tools designed to help people take their medicine on time and as prescribed. The study can be downloaded from here (PDF).