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Natasha Singer reports at The New York Times on a new generation of devices whose primary function is to prod people to change.
This new category of nudging technology includes "hydration reminder" apps like Waterlogged that exhort people to increase their water consumption; the HAPIfork, a utensil that vibrates and turns on a light indicator when people eat too quickly; and Thync, "neurosignaling" headgear that delivers electrical pulses intended to energize or relax people.
"There is this dumbing-down, which assumes people do not want the data, they just want the devices to help them," says Natasha Dow Schüll. "It is not really about self-knowledge anymore. It's the nurselike application of technology." While some self-zapping gizmos may resemble human cattle prods, other devices use more complex cues to encourage people to adopt new behavior. For example, the Muse, a brain-wave monitoring headband, is intended to help people understand their state of mind by playing different sounds depending on whether they are distracted or calm. "Based on what it registers, it plays loud, disruptive wind or waves lapping or, if you are supercalm and you maintain it for a while, you get calm, lovely noises of birds tweeting," says Schüll. "You do learn to calm your mind."
But do the new self-tracking and self-improvement technologies benefit people or just create more anxiety? An article published in The BMJ, a British medical journal, describes healthy people who use self-tracking apps as "young, asymptomatic, middle-class neurotics continuously monitoring their vital signs while they sleep." Dr. Des Spence argues that many health tracking apps encouraged healthy people to unnecessarily record their normal activities and vital signs — turning users into continuously self-monitoring "neurotics." Spence recommends people view these new technologies with skepticism.
"The truth is that these apps and devices are untested and unscientific, and they will open the door of uncertainty," says Spence. "Make no mistake: Diagnostic uncertainty ignites extreme anxiety in people."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 20 2015, @09:42AM
Or worse, Use of a self monitoring device that is net linked and you don't control the other end seems dumb. I am not pushing buyer beware as we clearly need to educate people that using such devices means that some one else has access to their information. And it could be used to alter insurance, target advertising, and I'm sure many other unscrupulous things that don't come to mind before coffee. If someone is educated and still goes along with it then it's their own dumb fault.
That said if these things develop sufficient penetration say a 20% of people using an insurer. People who don't use them might see premium increases, and monitors directly controlled by insurers sold to decrease the premiums.
To me this is a lot like various social media outlets on the net and employers using the information to make hiring decisions. If a candidate posts pictures of themselves drunk and this leads them to not getting a Job then I have very limited sympathy. I avoid social media for personal stuff, I use G+ for discussions on OSS/SW/OSes etc... and use my real name I ensure I post only things I would be willing any one to see and try to remain civil at all times. It does worry me that a lack of social media presence will be seen as something to hide and put me in a worse situation than people who have minor negatives freely available. I could put up a skeletal profile, but that is a lot of work and will still seem odd if I do not have much activity on FB.