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mHealth and the Digital Cyborg Body: The Running Apps in a Society of Control

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Mobile e-Health

Part of the book series: Human–Computer Interaction Series ((HCIS))

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 (QS) 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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Notes

  1. 1.

    Available at https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-eatery/id468299990.

  2. 2.

    Available at www.fitbit.com/story.

  3. 3.

    Available at http://www.myfitnesspal.com.br/welcome/learn_more.

  4. 4.

    Available at https://www.loseit.com/how-it-works/.

  5. 5.

    Search was undertaken in December 2016 at https://itunes.apple.com/us/genre/ios-health-fitness/id6013?mt=8.

  6. 6.

    http://www.ibm.com/watson/health.

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Acknowledgements

Vanissa Wanick gratefully acknowledges the grant from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil (number: 9520-13-9). Igor Sacramento gratefully acknowledges the grant from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Brazil.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Igor Sacramento

  2. Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Igor Sacramento

  3. University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Vanissa Wanick

  4. Winchester School of Art, Winchester, UK

    Vanissa Wanick

Authors
  1. Igor Sacramento
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  2. Vanissa Wanick
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Igor Sacramento .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Health & Wellbeing Priority Research Area, School of Health, Wellbeing & Social Care, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education & Language Studies, The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

    Hannah R. Marston

  2. School of Nursing, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada

    Shannon Freeman

  3. Centre for Innovative Ageing, School of Human and Health Sciences, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom

    Charles Musselwhite

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Sacramento, I., Wanick, V. (2017). mHealth and the Digital Cyborg Body: The Running Apps in a Society of Control. In: Marston, H., Freeman, S., Musselwhite, C. (eds) Mobile e-Health. Human–Computer Interaction Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60672-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60672-9_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60671-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60672-9

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