Quantified self
The widespread adoption in recent years of wearable fitness and sleep trackers such as the Fitbit or the Apple Watch,[2] combined with the increased presence of Internet of things in healthcare and in exercise equipment, have made self-tracking accessible to a large segment of the population.
They reflect the broader trend of the progressions for organization and meaning-making in human history; there has been a use of self-taken measurements and data collection that attempted the same goals that the quantified movement has.
As early as 2001, media artists such as Ellie Harrison and Alberto Frigo extensively pioneered the concept, proposing a new direction of labor-intensive self-tracking without using privacy infringing automation.
[11][page needed] The term quantified self appears to have been proposed in San Francisco by Wired magazine editors Gary Wolf[12] and Kevin Kelly[13] in 2007[14] as "a collaboration of users and tool makers who share an interest in self knowledge through self-tracking."
Wolf suggests that companies target advertising or recommend products use data from phones, tablets, computers, other technology, and credit cards.
As in every attempt to understand potentially high-dimensional data, visualization techniques can suggest hypotheses that may be tested more rigorously using formal methods.
Since these technologies have become smaller and cheaper to be put in smart phones or tablets, it is easier to take the quantitative methods used in science and business and apply them to the personal sphere.
[21][22] Many devices and services help with tracking physical activity, caloric intake, sleep quality, posture, and other factors involved in personal well-being.
Quantified self is also being used to improve personal or professional productivity,[23] with tools and services being used to help people keep track of what they do during the workday, where they spend their time, and whom they interact with.
Another application has been in the field of education, where wearable devices are being used in schools so that students can learn more about their own activities and related math and science.
There is a wide variety of self-tracking technologies that allow everyday activities to be turned into games by awarding points or monetary value to encourage people to compete with their friends.
[25][citation needed] Each technology may integrate with other apps or websites to show a bigger picture of health patterns, goals, and journaling.
[29] This is useful for both the parent (used to maintain a schedule and ensure they remain organised) and for the health professional (to make sure the baby is on target and occasionally to assist in diagnosis).
While most of the users engaging in self tracking practices are using the gathered data for self-knowledge and self-improvement, in some cases, self-tracking is pushed and forced by employers onto employees in certain workplace environments, health and life insurers or by substance addiction programs (drug and alcohol monitoring) in order to monitor the physical activity of the subject and analyze the data in order to gather conclusions.
[33] This reductionist line of criticism generally incorporates fears and concerns with the ways in which ideas on health are redefined, as well as doctor-patient dynamics and the experience of self-hood among self-trackers.
[31] An alternative line of criticism still linked to the reductionist discourse but still proposing a more hopeful solution is related the lack of health literacy among most of self-trackers.
[35] The solution proposed by proponents of the health literacy critique in order to improve the practice of self-tracking and its results is a focus on addressing individual and systemic barriers.
