Content area

Abstract

Big data visualization - the visual-spatial display of quantitative information culled from huge data sets - is now firmly embedded within the everyday experiences of people across the globe, yet scholarship on it remains surprisingly small. Within this literature, critical theorizations of big data visualizations are rare, as digital positivist perspectives dominate. This paper offers a critical, design-informed perspective on big data visualization in wearable health tracking ecosystems like FitBit. I argue that such visualizations are tools of individualized, neoliberal governance that operate largely through experiences of seduction and addiction to facilitate participation in the corporate capture and monetization of personal information. Exploration of my personal experience of the FitBit ecosystem illuminates this argument and emphasizes the capacity for harm to individuals using these ecosystems, leading to an exploration of the complex professional challenges for user experience designers working on visualizations within the ecosystems of wearables.

Details

1009240
Title
A Panopticon on My Wrist: The Biopower of Big Data Visualization for Wearables
Publication title
arXiv.org; Ithaca
Publication year
2024
Publication date
Dec 3, 2024
Section
Computer Science
Publisher
Cornell University Library, arXiv.org
Source
arXiv.org
Place of publication
Ithaca
Country of publication
United States
University/institution
Cornell University Library arXiv.org
e-ISSN
2331-8422
Source type
Working Paper
Language of publication
English
Document type
Working Paper
Publication history
 
 
Online publication date
2024-12-20
Milestone dates
2024-12-03 (Submission v1)
Publication history
 
 
   First posting date
20 Dec 2024
ProQuest document ID
3147565084
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/working-papers/panopticon-on-my-wrist-biopower-big-data/docview/3147565084/se-2?accountid=208611
Full text outside of ProQuest
Copyright
© 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.
Last updated
2024-12-21
Database
2 databases
  • ProQuest One Academic
  • ProQuest One Academic