This thesis investigates the relation between human and smartwatch by exploring the experiences of four Swedish long-distance runners who use digital technology to self-track their running activities. By examining the participating runners’ use of their smartwatches and smartwatch data as postphenomenological human-technology relations (Ihde, 1990), this thesis offers a perspective on the use of wearable self-tracking technology as augmenting human experience through digital data. The empirical material was gathered through semi-structured interviews with the participating runners. In the analysis of the material, a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software is used to transcribe and code the material following a concept-driven approach influenced by Ritchie and Lewis’ Thematic Framework Method (2003). The coded transcripts are summarized in thematic charts based on postphenomenological human-technology relations developed by Ihde (1990) and Verbeek (2008) along with an understanding of data influenced by the field of critical data studies and adjacent work (e.g. Iliadis & Russo, 2016; Kitchin, 2014; van Dijck, 2014; Edmond et al., 2022). The runner-smartwatch relations that are analyzed in this thesis showcase how the digital data produced in self-tracking practices become part of the self-tracker’s experiences by being incorporated in a runner-data assemblage. Viewing the runner-smartwatch relation as a type of augmentation relation (Verbeek, 2008), this thesis further suggests that the digital data function as an augmenting layer through which the running activity is experienced.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-118949 |
Date | January 2023 |
Creators | Logren, Madelene |
Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper (KV) |
Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
Format | application/pdf |
Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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