mHealth and the digital cyborg body: The running apps in a society of control

Sacramento, Igor and Wanick, Vanissa (2017) mHealth and the digital cyborg body: The running apps in a society of control. In, Marston, Hannah, Freeman, Shannon and Musselwhite, Charles (eds.) Mobile e-Health. (Human–Computer Interaction Series) 1 ed. Springer Cham, pp. 39-70. (doi:10.1007/978-3-319-60672-9).

Abstract

Mobile apps and new technologies are changing the way people deal with their personal health. There is a new and symbiotic relationship between technologies and individuals, which results in a constant sense of monitoring, improving self-knowledge and transforming bodies into digital cyborgs. The current chapter
aims to analyse the propagation of running apps as a reflection of a permanent
monitoring of bodies in the contemporary society. With this in mind, we provide a
critical review of issues related to the Quantified Self movement, combined with
principles borrowed from gamification, control and mHealth technologies. In this
chapter, we show a transformation of the body into data, particularly through design strategies, such as data visualisation, graphic feedback and social media integration. The main contribution of this chapter relies on the discussion about datification, which could help to provide a guideline for the understanding of the perspectives of the self in a society of control.

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Contributors

Author: Vanissa Wanick

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