Sheng-Hung Lee's Smart Footwear Design Appears in MIT's Weisner Gallery

by Adam Felts

Sheng-Hung Lee’s Master’s thesis project—Human-Centered System Design for an Aging Population: An Experimental Study on Footwear Design— has grabbed the spotlight at an exhibition held at MIT’s Weisner Student Art Gallery. Titled DESIGN: INCLUSIVE, the exhibition features Mr. Lee’s design work, as well as the “circular design” concepts of MIT architecture and computer science student Ziyuan Zhu*.*

Mr. Lee’s work is a prototype of indoor footwear designed with the needs of older wearers in mind. As a work of art, his prototype, along with Ms. Zhu’s work, asks the audience to reflect on whose voices and needs are included—or not—in our technologized society.

As part of the exhibition, two leaders in the field of design gave brief lectures on the topic of design inclusivity.

Yves Behar, founder and CEO of fuseproject, spoke on February 22, 2022. He introduced his new book, Designing Ideas, and discussed the idea of designing at “the extremes of life” – using design thinking to address seemingly intractable issues such as combatting client change.

Grace Jun, founder and CEO of OpenStyleLab, presented on February 25, 2022, and discussed the importance of incorporating principles of both inclusivity and accessibility into designers’ philosophies, in order to improve the user experience and quality of life for older adults, persons with disabilities, and everyone.

  • Share
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Get Involved

Interested in this area of study? See how you can participate in AgeLab research or become a volunteer.

GET INVOLVED TODAY

About the Author

Photo of Adam Felts
Adam Felts

Adam Felts is a researcher and writer at the MIT AgeLab. Currently he is involved in research on the experiences of family caregivers and the future of financial advice. He also manages the AgeLab blog and newsletter. He received his Master's in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Boston University in 2014 and his Master's of Theological Studies from Boston University in 2019.

More From the Blog

2020 OMEGA Summit Brings Together Students, Aging Professionals, Past Scholarship Winners

October 30, 2020

2020 Summer Interns Work on OMEGA, Lifestyle Leaders, C3 Project

August 26, 2020

2021 Spring Speaker Series Begins with Presentation from Dr. Catherine García on Social Determinants of Health

March 23, 2021