This is the reason why I think we have gotten ageing wrong. I went to the World Ageing Festival thinking that I could get insights as to how I could maintain my health and perhaps, possibly, recover some lost years. However, the World Ageing Festival seemed to be more about how we are supposed to accept the eventual inevitability of us ageing and becoming weaker.
To be frank, it started out well. When my colleague and I entered the exhibition hall, the first exhibitor we stumbled upon was TechnoGym. If you are not already familiar with TechnoGym, they deal with high-end gym equipment. The focus is on fitness, health and wellness. That TechnoGym checkup seemed enticing so I stepped forward.
Oh and coincidentally I met my secondary schoolmate who is now with TechnoGym. Not bad, had a mini catch up session…
The TechnoGym checkup consisted of a series of tests. You had to download the TechnoGym app and create an account. From there they would give you a score out of 100 to indicate how you fared against people across your age group and gender.
I do not know who this was. But from the readings, this person scored 67/100. The body composition analysis required you to step on the scale and hold two handles. I believe some would be familiar with such tests that are usually available at some commercial gyms. This system by TechnoGym does have that similar function but it also tests other aspects of your body like flexibility, strength and mind to give you a more holistic overview of your overall wellness.
Someone was going through the body composition test. You need to remove your socks so that your bare skin makes contact with the metal portions of the scale and the handles. An electrical current passes through our body to get an estimate of the amount of body fat and muscle mass we are carrying.
This is one of the ways the system tests for flexibility. There is a camera at the front of the system. This is something like the Microsoft Kinect system. It can sense your body in space.
Ah… my mind is doing well… The mind test involved you having to recall the location of certain items on the screen which would be flashed to you for a split second.
I took the balance and body composition test as well. I did not complete the mobility test. I only took one mobility test which involved me stretching my hands over my head and the system would analyse my range of motion through the camera. I think I did well for that as well.
After looking at these numbers, I can safely say that eating healthy works.
One thing I would like to know is whether the figures should be high or low. For example, my extracellular water is low. I need to know whether this is good or not and how to change this. Same for phase angle. I do not know what is that and how I can improve it. Perhaps something for TechnoGym to think about for future updates to their system?
Of course my colleague Willie wanted to try this out as well.
This is him doing the balancing test.
Now back to the rest of the exhibition.
Tsao Foundation is a non-profit foundation focused on successful ageing and active aging.
Then there was a vendor dealing with fittings for homes with seniors.
I genuinely hope that social AI robots improve in terms of their looks very soon. I do not want something that looks like that in my home… or anywhere close to me for that matter. I do not get why we need to make robots look like humans. Could we not just leave them as they are? I genuinely think having R2D2 roaming around my house is better than this…
There were a lot of exhibitors dealing with screening processes.
This is an AI-enabled thermography inpatient monitoring system.
This is some smart walking stick that can emit lasers…
See what I mean by most of the exhibitors were not about how we can maintain health and wellness but rather about how to deal with the ailments that come with ageing?
I must say that AI is playing a large role in exhibitions. Not just in this one.
This exhibitor creates fitness and wellness solutions for sports performance, active aging and rehabilitation.
Overall, the place was not overly crowded. Considering that this is a two-day event, I think this is a very niche event catered more to those that run hospitals, nursing homes and organisations that deal with the elderly.
There were some talks going on. Once again, the topics were very niche.
Possible? This claims to improve cognitive functions. Perhaps delaying the onset of dementia?
Here are some more photos of the event.
Perhaps in future reiterations of this event, we should think of how we can encourage those who are ageing to think about how to maintain and preserve what they have. Possible even improve? This event seemed to remind me that I will inevitably become old and these are the tools to help me get by…
Well, if you are still interested in the festival, details can be found here: https://worldageingfestival.com/waf2025
Yours sincerely,
Daryl
