Sensing a Heartbeat: A New Perspective on Self-Tracking Technologies through the Integration of Interoception

Desiree Foerster*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Fitness trackers are increasingly used by their wearers to monitor and optimise their exercise, health, and well-being. What is usually not considered is the role our interoceptive sense, the sense for inner-bodily processes, plays in the interpretation of body data and the formation of habits. By including neuroscientific research, perspectives from pragmatist philosophy, and science and technology studies into the analysis of self-tracking devices, this article will give a perspective on the scope and the effects of the involvement of the interoceptive sense in self-tracking practices. By offering a critical analysis of the contextualisation of experience through self-tracking devices, this article will argue that interoceptive awareness provides the context to make sense of body data. I propose here that paying greater attention to how interoception is involved in the mediation of bodily processes and activities through tracking devices can give novel insights into self-tracking as an embodied and affective practice.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)37-58
Number of pages22
JournalBody and Society
Volume30
Issue number2
Early online date27 Apr 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

Keywords

  • aesthetics
  • bodily awareness
  • habits
  • interoception
  • self-tracking
  • wearables

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