Calculating the Child Through Technologies of the ‘Quantified Self’

Ben Williamson The concept of the ‘quantified self’ has become the focus of global interest. Less acknowledged is the emergence of a range of technological devices and apps designed specifically for children to track, monitor and analyze data about their health, bodies and well-being. What are the issues raised by these technologies of the quantified self for kids? Emergence of the ‘Quantified Self’ In the last five years, there has been a sharp growth in the popularity of health data collection devices and apps for use in everyday life. The idea of a ‘quantified self’ first emerged through the launch of the Quantified Self web community in 2008 (founded by two former Wired editors). Focused on the ideal of ‘self-knowledge through numbers,’ self-quantifiers use statistical data from self-tracking devices and apps to understand their personal health, and on that basis, to modify and optimize their health behaviors. According to cofounder Gary Wolf, the ‘ data-driven life ’ represented by the quantified self movement came about through the convergence of four developments: the miniaturization and automation of electronic sensors; the ubiquity of mobile computing devices and smart phones; the normalization of sharing through social media; and the emergence of a ‘global superintelligence’ enabled by cloud connectivity. The ‘quantified self’ has since become a tag applied to those individuals and communities that use health tracking devices and apps for various practices of ‘lifelogging,’ ‘lifestreaming,’ ‘personal experimentation,’ and ‘digital autobiography.’ Everyday digital health tracking devices include a variety of sensors, accelerometers, pedometers, GPS devices, and wi-fi or Bluetooth enabled clothing and household items. Some researchers describe an emerging ‘ sensor mania ’ with personal health tracking technologies part of a vast interconnected ‘Internet of Things.’   Twinned with these devices, a huge range of apps to support user-led health data collection is available via the web. Apps are available to track food and drink intake, mood and emotion, physical activity and workouts of all kinds, sleep, inactivity, and more. These apps allow users to interpret and visualize the health data collected through tracking technologies, and to use these data to inform and optimize their health behavior choices. Some health tracking apps also feature built-in ‘personal analytics,’ capacities that permit users to generate fine-grained data about their own health, dietary and physical activities. Jawbone Up , for example, features an ‘insights engine’ that uses analytics techniques driven by specific algorithms to reveal hidden connections between different data such as diet and sleep. Likewise, TicTrac allows users to ‘sync’ all their tracking activities using its ‘Discovery Engine,’ while the Reporter App combines self-tracking with survey questions and automated prompts, aiming to make automated measurement and manual survey input into a simple process for users to build self-understanding through ‘self-ethnography’ or ‘self-science.’ Beyond its technical elements, a distinctive cultural discourse has sprung up around these health-tracking apps. The emphasis is placed on setting personal goals and challenges, ‘life projects,’ personal discovery, receiving motivational prompts and nudges, being rewarded for meeting or beating goals, and on using insights gained from data to make healthy lifestyle choices. Some social science researchers are beginning to suggest that self-quantification is an emerging mixture of social science methods, digital tracking, social networking, and the ‘ start-up’ discourse associated with Silicon Valley entrepreneurship. Quantified Child There now is some evidence of self-tracking and quantification taking off with children. Within the Quantified Self community itself, there are some emerging indications of ‘ quantified child ’ activities mobilizing self-tracking technologies and techniques, usually under parental guidance and often motivated by a concern to better understand and manage a child’s illness. A number of commercial child-tracking devices and applications have been launched to allow parents to generate knowledge about their child’s health. These include sensor-enabled ‘ smart diapers ’ to enable urine analysis and identify health patterns and ‘ smart baby clothing’ activated with ‘sleep algorithms,’ temperature and respiratory sensors to continually monitor infant health. Another emerging area is health-tracking apps for children, designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, aid dietary planning, and encourage physical activity. A range of apps, websites and multimedia games exist, the market represented well by the Apps for Healthy Kids competition, which awards prizes to the best health apps for children. A popular feature of health-related apps for children is the concept of caring for virtual creatures by fulfilling their dietary and fitness needs. For example, Fitter Critters requires players to ‘care for’ and ‘nurture’ their creature by providing optimal nutrition, and to