Aesthetic Wellbeing and Ethical Design of Technology

Aesthetics is a central quality attribute of a product. Research into the relationship between aesthetics in human–technology interaction and the well-being of older people is still in its infancy. In care homes, aesthetics can play a major role in creating a ‘feeling of home’, which is important when the transition to assisted living may involve multiple changes and losses that affect an older person’s well-being. This chapter discusses the potential of aesthetic design to address older people’s emotional well-being. Aesthetics in technology and technological environments provides a new ethical way of looking at valuable problems in design—meaningfulness in terms of personal and individual symbolic values and the harmonizing potential of artefacts to create a ‘feeling of home’. Promoting the aesthetic well-being of older people in care homes (and in general) deserves further attention.