Tuesday, September 17, 2013 from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM (BST)
Leeds, United Kingdom
At this inaugural event there will be presentations from researchers who have been exploring quantified self or self-tracking either empirically or theoretically which will stimulate discussion around the potential and implications for future developments. We hope that this event will stimulate discussion and collaboration among attendees and further afield. This is a great opporunity to be involved in the development of an emerging academic area and to connect with others. Below is a short summary of the proposed interests of the network. This is, however, intended to be an open forum in which a collective vision for the future of the network can be produced.
In the last few years there has been a significant increase in public and academic interest in the use of devices or techniques for the accumulation, aggregation and analysis of personal data. Apps for mobile phones such asTrack My Run and body tracking devices such as Jawbone, Fitbit and Nike’s Fuelband have perhaps garnered the widest attention with their ability to passively collect data on everyday activities which can then be analysed and shared with others. There is, however, more to quantified self than the mainstream media picture of obsessive “techies”. Many people engaged in “life logging” collate data on mood and experiences often without a direct quantitative element. While a relatively formalised arm of the quantified self movement has formed, through the Quantified Self group based in San Francisco, not everyone involved in quantified self activities is affiliated with Quantified Self. This formalised movement, as well as the broader cluster of practices and orientations which are coalescing within and beyond it, point to commercial and political connections which have yet to be fully explored.
Mark Carrigan 