Wearable technologies and the self-optimization of human bodies: the case of smartwatch

Abstract

Smartwatches are wearable technologies mostly used to produce health-related data. This paper focuses on smartwatch uses in terms of surveillance mechanisms. We ask whether, in the example of smartwatch, wearable technologies used in self-regulation facilitate the self-optimization of human bodies. We refer to several scholarly works using the concepts of self-tracking culture, quantification, governance of self and self-optimization. We organize our literary and methodological sources in three dimensions to construct an operational analysis: quantified self, self-definition, and governance of the self. We conducted in-depth interviews with a total of thirteen people by using snowball sampling. The average duration of the interviews was 30 minutes. We recorded the interviews with the permission of the respondents. The most important criterion in choosing the people to be interviewed was that they had five months or more of experience using the watch since the smartwatch requires a certain amount of time to get used to it and develop a habit of use. All interviewees had university degrees and an income-generating profession, mostly white-collar. The paper argues that the smartwatch, as a tool of quantification, encourages users to monitor themselves in order to be responsible individuals for their own health. However, we also acknowledge that the use of smartwatch does not straightforwardly produce empowering or disempowering outcomes for the users. There are dualistic aspects in its use that require further sociological considerations. Although the smartwatch is a tool of monitoring, its different connotations must be understood in its specific relation to the users.