Meet Agnes, the ageing empathy suit at MIT

Today, people are living longer than ever before, and with that come new challenges for how to improve the quality of life for an ageing global population.

The AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a suit that they say simulates the ageing process to give younger people a better idea of the physical challenges that older people face.

Dr Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab, says the goal of the suit - called Agnes, for Age Gain Now Empathy System - is to make the world more accessible to the elderly and life better for people as they age.

He showed the BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan what it feels like to age "from 20 to 80 in 20 minutes".

Filmed by Ian Cartwright; Edited by Joni Mazer Field

The Older We Get

People in rich countries are getting older. But is a longer life always a better life? The Older We Get is a series looking at the challenges of old age and how they can be met by an ageing population