The Change I Want To See

INTRODUCTION

In Unit Two of this course, you will be asked to embark on a major self-directed research project, which will involve locating a research question and series of interventions that will go through a process of continual testing. “THE CHANGE I WANT TO SEE” is an intermediate step towards defining your major project. It asks you to articulate a field of interest, and to make some preliminary decisions about the type of research and the changes you intend to achieve. The previous project required you to focus on a question and associated intervention. We are inviting you now to explore areas of interest and areas of the unknown that can stir your curiosity, and to think about your place in the world and the agency that you have to accomplish real change. 

We would like you to identify: 

(a) The area, discipline, professional arena or other context in which you would like to introduce change. You do not need to articulate a specific research question, but you will be expected to have carried out thorough background research on the area in which you are planning to work, and to be able to explain what kind of change is both possible, and desirable. This will involve substantial reading and other secondary research: we are not interested in unsupported intuitive ideas or creative hunches. 

(b) The stakeholders. Who are the people and organizations who are involved with the area or problem you have identified, and how would they be affected by the type of change you wish to see? Would they welcome it, or oppose it? What power or agency do your stakeholders have in the situation/area/problem you have identified? Again, this will involve rigorous research on your part, both primary and secondary. You will need to demonstrate knowledge of the background to your research area (from published work and other secondary sources), and also evidence of preliminary enquiry into primary sources of information (for example: talking to individuals and organizations involved in your area of interest). 

(c) The change itself. What change do you plan to introduce – and why is this change desirable? Some additional factors to consider are: • How will you evidence your background research? • Does your proposed change challenge you to move outside of your comfort zone? • Is there anything you find intimidating or frightening about the project? What would happen to you, if you conquered this fear? • Does this proposal have the potential to become an MA project that provides an opportunity for deep learning and transformative change?

MY FINAL WORK

In this project, I put the area I want to change in the clothing of the elderly. The reason why I will notice this field is that my grandfather is an old man who is very demanding about his quality of life, and he often complained to me that he couldn't buy clothes that he liked and fit him.

Looking at the general environment, the aging society has already become a global issue. Statistics show that by 2030, one-third of the world's population will be defined as the elderly, but as far as I know, the field of clothing for the elderly has not made corresponding progress.

Then my undergraduate major was fashion design, I looked around the fashion industry I found that we never seemed to consider the field of the elderly, but we will eventually grow old, I asked myself, would I be willing to wear existing Seniors Clothing when I get old? I think the elderly still have the right to pursue individuality, fashion, and beauty. Presently, the mainstream clothing market and e-commerce platforms are still dominated by the monotonous and boring supply of elderly clothing, which is something that needs to be changed. Such a design is a practice that tacitly assumes that the elderly are not qualified to pursue aesthetics and self-expression. And in my mind, in addition to aesthetic needs, clothing could even further become a concept of wearable devices for the elderly.

I think this is a big blue ocean market that has not received enough attention. An increasingly aging population will need to wear clothes that fit them better, smarter, and more suitable for the body of the elderly.

In recent years, the elderly in my own family have often fallen or been lost due to various geriatric diseases. Although the entire family is worried about this, they cannot accompany them at any time due to their busy work. To solve this problem, I buy them for the elderly The existing technology products (such as Apple Watch, mobile phone for the elderly) have many disadvantages in the process of use - the elderly often forget to carry or don't have time to call.

From this, I thought about whether it is possible to combine these technologies with the clothes that are inevitably worn every day, design clothes for the elderly that can monitor vital signs at any time and can accurately locate their location, and link these data to the emergency center through cloud data, as long as an abnormality is detected, it can automatically alarm. This device can solve the problems of forgetting to wear, operation problems, and timeliness problems of the elderly at the same time.

After a series of investigations, I learned that some organizations have the same idea as me in this field, and they are researching related technologies that can support this idea, such as the fully flexible fabric display system developed by Fudan University.

I think the revolutionary wearable devices will surely incubate more novel health industries and service models for this society.

References

Fashion for Women Over 60 — Clothing Advice for Older Women. Budget Fashionista. (2022). Retrieved 25 April 2022, from https://www.thebudgetfashionista.com/fashion-advice-older-women/.

Greco, A. (1986). THE FASHION‐CONSCIOUS ELDERLY: A VIABLE, BUT NEGLECTED MARKET SEGMENT. Journal Of Consumer Marketing, 3(4), 71-75. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb008181

Kim, N., & Hong, K. (2016). The Effect of Compression Knee Band and Heat Treatment on Blood Velocity of the Elderly with Osteoarthritis. Fashion &Amp; Textile Research Journal, 18(5), 716-723. https://doi.org/10.5805/sfti.2016.18.5.716

Smart Clothes Are the Future, and They're Already Here. Lifewire. (2022). Retrieved 25 April 2022, from https://www.lifewire.com/what-are-smart-clothes-4176103.

ZTE launches 5G-powered Smart T-shirt | NoypiGeeks. NoypiGeeks. (2022). Retrieved 25 April 2022, from https://www.noypigeeks.com/spotlight/zte-5g-smart-t-shirt/.