The Richmond-based company's new website uses "high-tech wizardry" to simulate the physical effects of aging.

Nobody wants to think about getting old one day. But unless you die an early death, getting old is, unfortunately, inevitable.

Aging comes with a whole new set of challenging experiences that most of us never consider. Genworth Financial's newly revamped website hopes to help families navigate those challenges in a comfortable, less-intimidating way. The site wants to serve as a portal for intergenerational cooperation, financial planning, and communication when it's time to face those tough questions.

The Richmond-based company's new website, Genworth.com, makes the uncomfortable fact of aging feel relatable. How? It shows you what it feels like. 

The site was designed by Applied Minds, and at its heart is an exercise in empathy. Genworth includes a visual simulator, an auditory simulator, and a mobility simulator -- all of which are easy games designed to mimic the experience of aging. It's also an important educational tool for understanding how disabilities impact a person's everyday life. It's easy to get frustrated when Grandma always asks to turn the volume up, but when you try the hearing impairment simulator, you completely understand what it must feel like to be her.

The approach is unusual for an insurance company website, but it's working. Everyone knows they need to plan for aging at some point -- and to plan for aging parents -- but it can be difficult for young people to put themselves in their parents' shoes. Now, you actually can.

The visual simulator allows manual controls where you can experience what it's like living with glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration. It's amazing how different the everyday world looks.

Courtesy of Genworth

Trying the auditory simulator makes you really regret those loud concerts. The simulator demonstrates the way our perception of sound changes as we age. The user can listen to an audio clip on its regular settings, and then adjust for tinnitus and presbycusis (the auditory condition for which hearing aids are used.)

Courtesy of Genworth

The most stunning feature, however, is the mobility simulator. In the simulator interface, the user can use their mouse to unpack a bag of groceries. The user can then adjust the settings for muscle loss, hand tremors, and arthritis. The effect is uncanny. Even the most basic tasks are increasingly more difficult. 

Courtesy of Genworth

After trying the simulations, it's difficult not to appreciate the everyday challenges of aging. If these condition simulators are so frustrating, one can only imagine how frustrating it must be to actually live with them.

Genworth hopes this ties into caregiver empathy, so that even young, able-bodied people can put themselves in their loved one's shoes.

"In shifting away from the look and feel of a traditional insurance company website," Janice Luvera, vice president of Marketing at Genworth says, "our goal was to create a refreshingly different, contemporary website that reflected consumers' desire for information about the impact of aging on their health, families, and finances, as well our passion for helping people age on their own terms."

What do you think? Have you checked out Genworth's website yet? Tell us your experience in the comments below!

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