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"A hundred years looks rather good on you."
He removes a tiny pill - actually a microscopic robot that will scan his body for disease - then heads toward the kitchen for water.

Instead, he finds himself in the laundry room. He chuckles, realizing he still has to adjust to his home's new configuration since he moved the kitchen. Maybe he should snap it back?

He peers at the clock, washes down his pill and rushes out to the garage.

Fine slips into his car, the one designed to protect older drivers.

The adjustable pedals silently move into place. As he backs out, the motion detectors sense the puppy ambling down the street and momentarily lock his brakes.

He waves as he passes his neighbor rollerblading with his great-grandchildren.

Seconds later, Phil pulls up to Ponce de Leon University, the community college built adjacent to his retirement community. There is a concert later at the performance-arts center, an Elvis show. But first he has to pick up from class Emma B. Well, his 90-year-old love. She needs a ride to see her brother, who is having head-transplant surgery at the Body Replacement Center.
OK, hold up. The horror-movie head bit is a little much to swallow.

Consider this, though: Much of what you just read is already in place.
What may happen 40 to 50 years from now when the baby boomers are octogenarians and older is taking shape today. And believe it or not, some experts say head transplants will be common one day. By 2045, one in four Americans will be 65 or older. That will be unprecedented. Every aspect of life will reflect that change. From our homes and bodies to cars and entertainment options, everything will function differently.

Look at what medicine, science and technology can do today. Imagine what it will do tomorrow. Dr. Ronald M. Klatz, president of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, has.

Founded in 1992, the Chicago-based academy boasts 11,500 practitioners in 65 countries.

In an article Klatz wrote, "Making the Quantum Leap to Human Immortality in the Year 2029," he says biotechnologies such as stem cells, cloning and high-tech miniaturized devices termed nanotechnology will help humans live to be as old as 200.
Klatz's article predicts, "The medical makeover is just a few years away. Forget the tummy tuck, we're talking about checking into a clinic near you and checking out with new body parts. Advanced prototypes of nearly every single body part already exist in research laboratories."

Klatz also foresees that "in as early as 20 years from now, head transplants, or at least, performance-enhancing brain implants, will become commonplace." Such procedures could extend the lives of quadriplegics or those with terminal diseases that have not affected the brain. Doing so could save their lives until a cure is found for what ails their bodies, he wrote.

Among those critical of some of Klatz's anti-aging claims is Dr. Donald B. Louria of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - New Jersey Medical School. The professor and chairman emeritus of the department of preventive medicine and community health even debated Klatz.

Increasingly, aging baby boomers will be "overwhelmed by self-interested optimists who promise people more than they can deliver" about increasing longevity, he said.

Louria agrees that exciting medical advances will help many. It is possible we will put "robots in blood vessels and see a mutation and correct it or see the clogging of an artery and unclog it. One problem is we have some ideas about the potential up side. We do not have any idea of the down side," such as "machines malfunctioning or replicating themselves and doing something you don't want."

No doubt "what we will do in the next 50 years will increase life expectancy by at least 10 more years. We will be closer to changing the boundary of aging, and that brings up a host of questions that the anti-aging entrepreneurs ignore."

Within the next 40 years, about 20 million people will be over 85, he said.

"What happens, as we increase longevity, to the quality of life? What happens to people outliving their financial resources? How much of the medical-care dollar will they take? Now those over 65 represent about one-twelfth of the population, and they use more than 30 percent of the health dollars. So if they are 25 percent, does that mean they will use 65 or 70 percent of the health dollars? That's a possibility, and it will create huge problems."

Dr. Michael Zey, a professor at Montclair University who watched Klatz and Louria debate the issue earlier this year, said aging boomers will keep working.

"We will have to stop thinking of people getting older and retiring. The economy will not be able to stand [so many people] living as retirees," said Zey, a consultant on future trends and author of several books on the subject.

"The techniques that extend life will allow us to live healthier. So we will be able to produce. How does anyone have money? They work."
And it is never too early to start thinking about it, he said.

"I suggest we start educating people early in life that they will live a long time and what they see in their grandparents is a thing of the past. When they get to that age, they will be healthier and they will be working. We have to educate them," Zey said.

"We have to reconfigure our ideas about careers. At a certain age, you go into a second or third career."

So with more seniors likely in the workplace, there will be a need for specially designed vehicles to get them there as well as everywhere else.

The number of people 65 and older is expected to double to 70 million by 2030. And so is the number of elderly drivers. The fastest-growing population of drivers in Florida consists of those over 85.

A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety predicts that by 2030, older drivers will account for 25 percent of all fatal crashes. It is not that senior drivers are at fault. They are more fragile and less likely to survive their injuries.

And which seniors are most at risk? The healthiest and the wealthiest, as they are more likely to hit the road.

Enter the "elder mobile," a car that will better protect fragile bones.

"The baby boomers were the first generation of Americans to have a car designed for them," said Michael T. Marsden, professor of English and cultural studies at Eastern Kentucky University. "From the Corvette to the minivan, there has been a car for them every step of the way. Manufacturers are anticipating the next need."

That car may have night-guidance technology or "night vision," said Dr. George E. Hoffer, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and an expert on automotive and transportation economics.
Motion detectors and satellite-assisted information may keep cars from colliding, he said.

B.F. Goodrich had an advertising campaign for tires which said, "It's not just your car, it's your freedom. That really applies to the elderly" and technology will bail them out, Hoffer said.

Architecture will adapt around the needs of the elderly, predicts Stephen Verderber, professor of architecture at Tulane University.
Homes that "can be taken apart and rebuilt. As they age, they can live in the same house by adapting it to new needs. If they have a tub that requires them to step up, the house should be designed so they can take out the old tub without massive renovation costs."

Even office furniture to support older boomers' limited range of mobility will likely be plentiful.

Verberber speculates that many elderly will have a robot to help with daily living. "It will be harder to have that many younger people to care for them, so we will have to resort to technology with a humanistic approach."

Outdoor space will encourage the elderly to exercise, with more parks designed for them or with sections reserved for their use.
Nutrition will be a hot topic in the future, said Joy Short, a registered dietitian and director of the undergraduate program in nutrition and dietetics at St. Louis University.

Seniors with chronic diseases - if those ailments are not wiped out in the future - benefit from nutritional intervention. The challenge will be to serve nutritional food that tastes good to boomers with discriminating palates.
A study in May found that "43 percent of the baby boomers surveyed said they would rather eat what they want and live just 10 years longer than go on a strict diet and live longer," she said.

Marsden, the cultural studies professor, believes boomers will return to college. They may even want to live in retirement communities built adjacent to them. Some universities are "building retirement communities and selling that to their alums."
Old boomers will also demand that Hollywood and television tell their stories, some rated NC-17.

"Look at Sophia Loren, Jane Fonda, Joan Collins. The sexual life of the senior citizen has been greatly unexplored. There are a lot of stories to be told," Marsden said.

No doubt the boomers, who controlled the culture for so long, will continue to wield considerable influence. One likely scene 50 years from now, said Marsden, will be Elvis concerts. Even if boomers do not, the "King" will live on.

Contact Robin Farmer (804) 649-6312 or rfarmer@timesdispatch.com