The body-oriented approach in the philosophy of cognitive sciences is gaining in importance in the conditions of the formation of new high-tech contexts. The problem of interoception and integration of bodily data into socio-economic processes requires a comprehensive analysis and ethical assessment. This article examines the conceptual foundations of the body-oriented approach and its impact on the essence of cognitive processes. The main advantages and disadvantages of this approach are presented. We consider the methodological conflict zones of the bodily paradigm (...) and traditional methodological attitudes of the cognitive sciences. The system ofinteroceptive sensations is a special «layer» of bodily experience. The social functions of interoceptive sensations are an interdisciplinary research area that focuses on the mechanisms of interaction between the private content of bodily experience and systems of social interaction. The regularity between interoceptive sensations and human behavioral patterns reflects the importance of examining bodily data. Today, the market for bodily data is just beginning to form, but at the same time it is already playing an important role in global digital transformation processes. A multitude of applications and wearable digital devices that track bodily activity and generate gigantic amounts of data are used today by millions of people around the world. The identification of bodily activity leads to the emergence of new forms of interaction between a person and socio-institutional systems, the specific properties of which are also considered in this article. (shrink)

The use of predictive analytics in Ayurvedic healthcare offers healthcare organizations with a paradigmatic shift to enhance better business judgments, processes streamlining and environmentally friendly business improvement. The purpose of the paper is to explore how predictive analytics supported by artificial intelligence (AI) can change Ayurvedic healthcare to detect symptoms of physiology imbalances and diseases before they become full-fledged conditions; and prevent reactive healthcare paradigm and move toward preventive healthcare paradigm. With the combination of information on traditional methods of diagnosis, (...) wearable healthcare, and electronic healthcare records, AI offers information-based support that can accommodate early intervention programs regarding Ayurvedic philosophies. This paper discusses the way to build predictive models that will fit into the logic of the Ayurvedic diagnostic assessment and ways in which AI will enhance pulses resolutions, dosha diagnosis, and the dosage prescribed to suit the individual patient. Moreover, the paper dwells upon how machine learning could assist in improving the accuracy of diagnostic testing, empowering patients, and automatizing the work of the healthcare system. The aspects of ethical data agendas, such as data security and privacy, cultural suitability, and reasonable AI implementation, are presented to facilitate responsible and equal AI usage. This paper highlights such implications as these of completing clinical operations in the above-discussed areas and having overarching business strategy and population-level healthcare implications: being able to capture emerging AI trends in the market and increase access and improving accessibility to healthcare services and being able to accompany providing data-driven decision support at a strategic level in Ayurvedic businesses. By blending ancient wisdom of Ayurveda and cutting-edge AI technology, the paper comes up with some recommendations that business can exploit its innovative potential by increasing its business penetration and customer trust in prediction and preventive healthcare products. (shrink)

An oversized reliance on big data-driven algorithmic decision-making systems, coupled with a lack of critical inquiry regarding such systems, combine to create the paradoxical “black box” at work. The “black box” simultaneously demands a higher level of transparency from the worker in regard to data collection, while shrouding the decision-making in secrecy, making employer decisions even more opaque to the worker. To access employment, the worker is commanded to divulge highly personal information, and when hired, must submit further still to (...) algorithmic processes of evaluations which will make authoritative claims as to the workers’ productivity. Furthermore, in and out of the workplace, the worker is governed by an invisible data-created leash deploying wearable technology to collect intimate worker data. At all stages, the worker is confronted with a lack of transparency, accountability, or explanation as to the inner workings or even the logic of the “black box” at work. This data revolution of the workplace is alarming for several reasons: the “black box at work” not only serves to conceal disparities in hiring, but could also allow for a level of “data-laundering” that beggars any notion of equal opportunity in employment and there exists, the danger of a “mission creep” attitude to data collection that allows for pervasive surveillance, contributing to the erosion of both the personhood and autonomy of workers. Thus, the “black box at work” not only enables worker domination in the workplace, it deprives the worker of Rawlsian justice. (shrink)

BackgroundSolitary death (kodokushi) has recently become recognized as a social issue in Japan. The social isolation of older people leads to death without dignity. With the outbreak of COVID-19, efforts to eliminate solitary death need to be adjusted in line with changes in lifestyle and accompanying changes in social structure. Health monitoring services that utilize wearable devices may contribute to this end. Our goals are to outline how wearable devices might be used to (1) detect emergency situations involving solitary older (...) people and swiftly connect them with medical treatment, to (2) reduce the frequency of deaths that remain undiscovered and (3) to reduce social isolation by promoting social interaction. MethodsTheoretical and philosophical approaches were adopted to examine ethical issues surrounding the application of wearable devices and cloud-based information processing systems to prevent solitary death in the world with/after COVID-19.Main body(1) Technology cannot replace social connections; without social support necessary to foster understanding of the benefits of health management through wearable devices among older adults, such devices may remain unused, or not used properly. (2) Maturity of the technology; systems face the difficult task of detecting and responding to a wide range of health conditions and life-threatening events in time to avert avoidable morbidity and mortality. (3) Autonomy and personhood; promoting the voluntary use of wearable devices that are a part of larger efforts to connect isolated individuals to a community or social services might be effective. Legal force should be avoided if possible. There is some concern that landlords may require an older person to sign a contract agreeing to wear a device. The autonomy of solitary older people should be respected. (4) Governance: policies must be developed to limit access to data from wearables and the purposes for which data can be used.ConclusionIf thoughtfully deployed under proper policy constraints, wearable devices offer a way to connect solitary older people to health services and could reduce cases of solitary death while respecting the personhood of the user. (shrink)

It is a matter of fact that Europe is facing more and more crucial challenges regarding health and social care due to the demographic change and the current economic context. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has stressed this situation even further, thus highlighting the need for taking action. Active and Assisted Living technologies come as a viable approach to help facing these challenges, thanks to the high potential they have in enabling remote care and support. Broadly speaking, AAL can be referred (...) to as the use of innovative and advanced Information and Communication Technologies to create supportive, inclusive and empowering applications and environments that enable older, impaired or frail people to live independently and stay active longer in society. AAL capitalizes on the growing pervasiveness and effectiveness of sensing and computing facilities to supply the persons in need with smart assistance, by responding to their necessities of autonomy, independence, comfort, security and safety. The application scenarios addressed by AAL are complex, due to the inherent heterogeneity of the end-user population, their living arrangements, and their physical conditions or impairment. Despite aiming at diverse goals, AAL systems should share some common characteristics. They are designed to provide support in daily life in an invisible, unobtrusive and user-friendly manner. Moreover, they are conceived to be intelligent, to be able to learn and adapt to the requirements and requests of the assisted people, and to synchronise with their specific needs. Nevertheless, to ensure the uptake of AAL in society, potential users must be willing to use AAL applications and to integrate them in their daily environments and lives. In this respect, video- and audio-based AAL applications have several advantages, in terms of unobtrusiveness and information richness. Indeed, cameras and microphones are far less obtrusive with respect to the hindrance other wearable sensors may cause to one’s activities. In addition, a single camera placed in a room can record most of the activities performed in the room, thus replacing many other non-visual sensors. Currently, video-based applications are effective in recognising and monitoring the activities, the movements, and the overall conditions of the assisted individuals as well as to assess their vital parameters. Similarly, audio sensors have the potential to become one of the most important modalities for interaction with AAL systems, as they can have a large range of sensing, do not require physical presence at a particular location and are physically intangible. Moreover, relevant information about individuals’ activities and health status can derive from processing audio signals. Nevertheless, as the other side of the coin, cameras and microphones are often perceived as the most intrusive technologies from the viewpoint of the privacy of the monitored individuals. This is due to the richness of the information these technologies convey and the intimate setting where they may be deployed. Solutions able to ensure privacy preservation by context and by design, as well as to ensure high legal and ethical standards are in high demand. After the review of the current state of play and the discussion in GoodBrother, we may claim that the first solutions in this direction are starting to appear in the literature. A multidisciplinary debate among experts and stakeholders is paving the way towards AAL ensuring ergonomics, usability, acceptance and privacy preservation. The DIANA, PAAL, and VisuAAL projects are examples of this fresh approach. This report provides the reader with a review of the most recent advances in audio- and video-based monitoring technologies for AAL. It has been drafted as a collective effort of WG3 to supply an introduction to AAL, its evolution over time and its main functional and technological underpinnings. In this respect, the report contributes to the field with the outline of a new generation of ethical-aware AAL technologies and a proposal for a novel comprehensive taxonomy of AAL systems and applications. Moreover, the report allows non-technical readers to gather an overview of the main components of an AAL system and how these function and interact with the end-users. The report illustrates the state of the art of the most successful AAL applications and functions based on audio and video data, namely lifelogging and self-monitoring, remote monitoring of vital signs, emotional state recognition, food intake monitoring, activity and behaviour recognition, activity and personal assistance, gesture recognition, fall detection and prevention, mobility assessment and frailty recognition, and cognitive and motor rehabilitation. For these application scenarios, the report illustrates the state of play in terms of scientific advances, available products and research project. The open challenges are also highlighted. The report ends with an overview of the challenges, the hindrances and the opportunities posed by the uptake in real world settings of AAL technologies. In this respect, the report illustrates the current procedural and technological approaches to cope with acceptability, usability and trust in the AAL technology, by surveying strategies and approaches to co-design, to privacy preservation in video and audio data, to transparency and explainability in data processing, and to data transmission and communication. User acceptance and ethical considerations are also debated. Finally, the potentials coming from the silver economy are overviewed. (shrink)

The aim of this study is to use a wearable system for monitoring spinal posture and mobility among nursing professionals in intensive care units (ICUs) and operating rooms (ORs). It is also aimed to identify the biomechanical demands in each environment and assess the potential of the wearable device to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). A longitudinal descriptive observational study was conducted. The wearable device tracked spinal mobility in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar levels. Data were collected from (...) 12 nursing students during their clinical rotations in ICU and OR services at the University Hospital of Salamanca. Spinal mobility data were captured in real-time, and pain levels were asked using the visual analog scale (VAS) before and after working shifts. (shrink)

Ezzence is the first smartphone-controlled olfactometer designed for both day and night conditions. We discuss the design and technical implementation of Ezzence and report on a study to evaluate the feasibility of using the device in home-based sleep environments. The study results show that participants were satisfied with the device and found it easy to use. Furthermore, participants reported a significant improvement in sleep quality when using the device with scent in comparison to the control condition, as well as better (...) mood the following morning and shorter time to sleep onset. The device is integrated with a wearable EEG and real-time sleep staging algorithm to release scent during specific sleep stages, which is important for certain use cases. Ezzence can be used for several applications, including those that require scent triggered day and night. They include targeted memory reactivation, longitudinal health treatments, therapy, and mental or physical exercises. Finally, this article proposes an interaction framework to understand relationships between scents and environments based on proxemic dimensions and passive or active interactions during sleep. (shrink)

Personal health technologies such as apps and wearables that generate health and behavior data close to the individual patient are envisioned to enable personalized healthcare - and self-care. And yet, they are consumer devices. Proponents of these devices presuppose that measuring will be helpful, and that data will be meaningful. However, a growing body of research suggests that self-tracking data does not necessarily make sense to users. Drawing together data studies and digital health research, we aim to further research (...) on data ambivalence, a term we use to refer to the ambiguities and uncertainties people experience when interpreting their own data, as well as the critical obligation towards cultivating ethically sound uses and responses to such data in context. We develop the relationship between data, interpretation, and context as a central theoretical and practical problem in the datafication of healthcare. We then show how interpretation and context matter for data ambivalence through an empirical study of heart patients with an implanted advanced pacemaker who were offered a Fitbit wristband for self-tracking as part of a research project. We argue that the hope, anxiety, and doubt connected to the promise and accuracy of data are tempered by the context and purpose of self-tracking, and by individual circumstances. Finally, we link the findings on context-sensitivity in data interpretation to questions about response-ability in cloud-based care infrastructures. We discuss the ethical dilemmas associated with the use of commercial wellness-technologies in healthcare, and with researching such emerging practices. (shrink)

Discussions of informed consent—the cornerstone of twentieth- and twenty-first-century biomedical ethics—have largely unfolded in isolation from other fields where consent is equally central, such as sexual ethics, contract law, and political philosophy. Yet developments in IT, Big Data, AI, and human–computer interaction demand closer dialogue between bioethics and contract law. Emerging technologies—including genetic testing, biomarker analysis, wearable sensors, brain imaging, drones, social media, and smartphones—raise ethical and legal concerns about access to private data, evidence of agreement, and the boundaries of (...) autonomy. This paper brings the bioethical notion of informed consent into conversation with legal conceptions of consent, showing how each can enrich the other. Insights from visual and comic contracting demonstrate how legal design can make consent more genuine and comprehensible in biomedical contexts. Conversely, bioethics’ commitment to “two-way” informed consent offers a model for more relational and ethically grounded approaches to legal contracting. (shrink)

Artificial intelligence systems have been widely applied to various contexts, including high-stake decision processes in healthcare, banking, and judicial systems. Some developed AI models fail to offer a fair output for specific minority groups, sparking comprehensive discussions about AI fairness. We argue that the development of AI systems is marked by a central paradox: the less participation one stakeholder has within the AI system’s life cycle, the more influence they have over the way the system will function. This means that (...) the impact on the fairness of the system is in the hands of those who are less impacted by it. However, most of the existing works ignore how different aspects of AI fairness are dynamically and adaptively affected by different stages of AI system development. To this end, we present a use case to discuss fairness in the development of corporate wellness programs using smart wearables and AI algorithms to analyze data. The four key stakeholders throughout this type of AI system development process are presented. These stakeholders are called service designer, algorithm designer, system deployer, and end-user. We identify three core aspects of AI fairness, namely, contextual fairness, model fairness, and device fairness. We propose a relative contribution of the four stakeholders to the three aspects of fairness. Furthermore, we propose the boundaries and interactions between the four roles, from which we make our conclusion about the possible unfairness in such an AI developing process. (shrink)

This chapter explores how integrating artificial intelligence into clinical settings impacts the autonomy of physicians and patients. Focusing on advanced systems such as large language models and clinical decision support systems, this chapter examines the dual impact of AI on clinical decision-making. For physicians, computational and value opacity, regulatory ambiguity, automation bias, and deskilling can compromise professional independence. Simultaneously, transitive paternalism and relational opacity, which hinder truly informed consent and participatory decision-making, challenge patient autonomy. Nevertheless, artificial intelligence also offers opportunities (...) to enhance autonomy: for physicians, through administrative relief as well as diagnostic assistance, for patients, via wearables, chatbots, and AI surrogates that promote personalized care and independent health management. This chapter emphasizes that safeguarding autonomy in AI-driven medicine requires more than transparency; it demands shared ethical responsibility among developers, institutions, and clinicians. Autonomy must be understood beyond informed consent, focusing on explicability, meaningful engagement, and alignment with patient values and well-being. Ultimately, AI should serve patient well-being. (shrink)

With the rise of wearable technologies, mobile devices and artificial intelligence comes a growing pressure to understand downstream effects of cognitive offloading on children's future thinking and behavior. Here, we explored whether compelling children to use an indiscriminate cognitive offloading strategy affects their subsequent strategy selection. Six‐ to 9‐year‐olds (N = 128) completed a task where manual rotation of stimuli sometimes offloaded mental rotation demand and other times did not. In phase 1, some children were compelled to use manual rotation (...) indiscriminately, whereas others could only use mental rotation. In phase 2, where children could freely choose their strategy, older children who were compelled to use manual rotation in phase 1 were significantly more selective in their strategy use, rotating the stimuli relatively more frequently when this behavior would offload cognitive demand than when it would not. These results provide preliminary evidence that pre‐exposure to indiscriminate cognitive offloading can promote selectivity in children's subsequent strategy use, though this selectivity may reflect a desire to avoid cognitive effort rather than improve task performance. (shrink)

Wearable self-tracking devices capture multidimensional health data and offer several advantages including new ways of facilitating research. However, they also create a conflict between individual interests of avoiding privacy harms, and collective interests of assembling and using large health data sets for public benefits. While some scholars argue for transparency and accountability mechanisms to resolve this conflict, an average user is not adequately equipped to access and process information relating to the consequences of consenting to further uses of her data. (...) As an alternative, this paper argues for fiduciary relationships, which put deliberative demands on digital health data controllers to keep the interests of their data subjects at the forefront as well as cater to the contextual nature of privacy. These deliberative requirements ensure that users can engage in collective participation and share their health data at a lower risk of privacy harms. This paper also proposes a way to balance the flexible and open-ended nature of fiduciary law with the specific nature and scope of fiduciary duties that digital health data controllers should owe to their data subjects. (shrink)

Background: The introduction of healthcare AI to society as well as the clinical setting will improve individual health statuses and increase the possible medical choices. AI can be, however, regarded as a double-edged sword that might cause medically and socially undesirable situations. In this paper, we attempt to predict several negative situations that may be faced by healthcare professionals, patients and citizens in the healthcare setting, and our society as a whole. Discussion: We would argue that physicians abuse healthcare AI (...) through their excessive and dependent use of it, and they will focus only on the AI services in their office and patient medical data and information, and forget to observe the patient in their clinical encounters. In the era of AI introduction, data from the wearable terminal or AI advice will become the primary target of the physician’s interest, and could be regarded as a patient surrogate. Paternalism would be paradoxically resurrected by the introduction of state-of-the-art AI. A physician’s conflict of interest related to AI as a commercial product could strongly influence his or her actions in clinical settings. We also worry that the general public will become uneasy and hypersensitive slaves to information, compulsively and uninterruptedly requesting healthcare information concerning their own health and advice from AI. An AI system capable of expressing proper and timely empathy to suffering patients could deprive healthcare professionals of their roles in terms of hospitality and emotional exchange. Finally, entire societies would soon share and consolidate healthcare sensitive information from all in the general public as part of a totalitarian healthcontrolled society where individual privacy and personal secrets could be neglected. The advent of the healthcontrolled society could lead to the metamorphosis of the concept of privacy itself into something completely different. Conclusion: Although AI which surpasses human healthcare professionals may never appear, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst is the best approach to take. To this end, we present some potential countermeasures including conducting clinical research and social investigations concerning problems surrounding the introduction of AI and developing guidelines for its appropriate use. (shrink)

This section provides a comprehensive introduction to biomedical engineering, tracing its definition, scope, historical evolution, core disciplines, applications, and ethical, legal, and societal considerations. It begins by defining biomedical engineering as an interdisciplinary field that integrates engineering, medical, and biological sciences to develop innovative healthcare solutions, emphasizing problem-solving, system design, and translational applications (Sect. 1.1). The historical development of the field is then explored (Sect. 1.2), highlighting key milestones, hallmarks such as innovation and interdisciplinarity, and the emerging role of artificial (...) intelligence. Core domains, including biomechanics, biomaterials, computational modeling, medical imaging, and medical device design are examined alongside their practical applications in tissue engineering, prosthetics, wearable devices, robotics, minimally invasive surgery, and diagnostic technologies (Sect. 1.3). Finally, the section addresses ethical, legal, and social responsibilities, encompassing patient safety, regulatory compliance, privacy, equity, and sustainability, illustrating the broader societal impact of biomedical engineering (Sect. 1.4). (shrink)

This chapter provides a comprehensive exploration of medical devices and instrumentation, building on the foundational principles and applications of biomedical engineering. It begins by tracing the historical development of medical devices, highlighting key innovations that have shaped clinical practice and device design (Sect. 2.1). The section then examines technical characteristics, fundamental components (Sect. 2.2), and specialized devices, including imaging systems (Sect. 2.3), electrocardiographs (Sect. 2.4), blood pressure (Sect. 2.5) and patient monitors (Sect. 2.6), mechanical ventilators (Sect. 2.7), anesthesia machines (Sect. (...) 2.8), pacemakers, defibrillators (Sect. 2.9), neonatal incubators (Sect. 2.10), and surgical instruments (Sect. 2.11). Each chapter discusses clinical applications, regulatory considerations, and safety standards, emphasizing their role in diagnostics, monitoring, therapy, and patient care. The section concludes by addressing emerging trends and innovations, including miniaturization, wearable technology, smart devices (Sect. 2.12), robotic systems (Sect. 2.13), implantable pumps (Sect. 2.14), and smart pills (Sect. 2.15), highlighting their potential to transform healthcare delivery and advance precision medicine. (shrink)

By means of sophisticated, data-driven systems that improve patient care, diagnoses, and treatment techniques, artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining healthcare and transforming conventional medical procedures. Future developments in artificial intelligence that will change healthcare systems for the next generation are investigated in this work. Precision medicine driven by artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and real-time monitoring is enhancing illness diagnosis, patient outcomes, and tailored treatments. Medical imaging is improving because to deep learning models and computer vision, which also allow early, more (...) accurate disease identification. Furthermore boosting healthcare efficiency and lowering human workload are AI-powered robotic surgery and automation in administrative processes. Continuous health monitoring and preemptive interventions are made possible by the way artificial intelligence is being combined with wearable health devices and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). By means of virtual assistants and AI-driven chatbots, natural language processing and conversational artificial intelligence are enhancing patient involvement. Furthermore improving data security, interoperability, and privacy in digital health records is the mix of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. Notwithstanding these developments, important issues including ethical questions, regulatory compliance, and the requirement of explainable artificial intelligence still exist. This paper addresses developing trends that will define the future of intelligent, efficient, and patient-centric healthcare systems as well as the transforming possibilities of artificial intelligence in healthcare. (shrink)

Bainbridge’s well known “Ironies of Automation” Analysis, design and evaluation of man–machine systems. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 129–135, 1983. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-029348-6.50026-9) laid out a set of fundamental criticisms surrounding the promises of automation that, even 30 years later, remain both relevant and, in many cases, intractable. Similarly, a set of ironies in technologies for sensor driven self-quantification is laid out here, spanning from instrumental problems in human factors design to much broader social problems. As with automation, these ironies stand in the way (...) of many of the promised benefits of these wearable technologies. It is argued here that without addressing these ironies now, the promises of wearables may not come to fruition, and instead users may experience outcomes that are opposite to those which the designers seek to afford, or, at the very least, those which consumers believe they are being offered. This paper describes four key ironies of sensor driven self-quantification: know more, know better versus no more, no better; greater self-control versus greater social control; well-being versus never being well enough; more choice versus erosion of choice. (shrink)

In this article, we interrogate strange intimacies in digital culture by engaging with the multiplicity and ambiguities of the strange, the stranger, and strangeness. We situate our accounts in critical intimacies research, and those that apply this in the context of digital, mediated, data, and postdigital cultures. We argue for a foregrounding of the strange, and recognise the parallels between intimacy’s resistance to singularity and the way the strange can only be approached as plurality and multiplicity. Experimenting with strange/r/ness, we (...) then draw on a heteroglossic framework to explore four examples that differently position the strange, exploring how the strange is found, what it does, and what feelings of belonging or non-belonging it creates. Our examples broadly map onto bodily intimacies, our intimate knowledge of ourselves, belonging in communities, and the relationship between intimacy, society, and politics. They run from the micro to the macro, while the distinctions between these elements always remain permeable. We finish with a discussion of the value of bringing the intimate and the strange together, revealing their relationship to one another, and highlighting the critical capacity that developing these two concepts together permits. (shrink)

Enabling technologies constitute key milestones for humankind, expanding the capabilities of individuals and societies. Such a disruptive impact can also shape the perspective of any users beyond their own mind, body, and environment. For instance, the pervasive adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions is already radically transforming our skills and our settings. Particularly, embodied AIs can help us by means of robots and smart environments in multiple situations through interactions based on user interfaces and feedback powered by a progressively more (...) and more refined computational modelling of our intentions and conditions in a specific context. Indeed, it is crucially important to enable a machine to correctly depict a setting as a system including itself, a space, and people whose skills, limitations, needs, and goals should define the ongoing tasks within the context. Interestingly, ergonomics provides effective interdisciplinary strategies to face such a challenge, investigating how a human being interacts with other elements of a system (a technological context, in the mentioned cases). Simultaneously, this discipline also has the scope of improving the well-being of the person and the performance of the system itself. Each (physical, cognitive, organizational) branch of ergonomics offers valuable methodologies for studying the space where human-technology interactions happen and show their effects. In particular, this manuscript will focus on the contributions of neuroergonomics, the discipline investigating human factors according to neuroscientific methods. Such an approach can exploit rich data collected, for instance, by means of wearable devices in ecologically valid contexts based on physical and digital (and phygital) spaces populated by humans and smart machines, making the design of the latter truly centered on the person. (shrink)

The body-oriented approach in the philosophy of cognitive sciences is gaining in importance in the conditions of the formation of new high-tech contexts. The problem of interoception and integration of bodily data into socio-economic processes requires a comprehensive analysis and ethical assessment. This article examines the conceptual foundations of the body-oriented approach and its impact on the essence of cognitive processes. The main advantages and disadvantages of this approach are presented. We consider the methodological conflict zones of the bodily paradigm (...) and traditional methodological attitudes of the cognitive sciences. The system ofinteroceptive sensations is a special «layer» of bodily experience. The social functions of interoceptive sensations are an interdisciplinary research area that focuses on the mechanisms of interaction between the private content of bodily experience and systems of social interaction. The regularity between interoceptive sensations and human behavioral patterns reflects the importance of examining bodily data. Today, the market for bodily data is just beginning to form, but at the same time it is already playing an important role in global digital transformation processes. A multitude of applications and wearable digital devices that track bodily activity and generate gigantic amounts of data are used today by millions of people around the world. The identification of bodily activity leads to the emergence of new forms of interaction between a person and socio-institutional systems, the specific properties of which are also considered in this article. (shrink)

This paper argues identity documents (ID) prefigure wearables as artefacts connected with archives. As participants with human practices, they constitute an apparatus that engenders sensibilities about the proper way to participate in society, through the use of socio-technical systems. The use of these artefacts is necessary to make individuals legible to the state. Refusing them renders us insensible. Through a media archaeology of the history and use of IDs through modern Europe, an understanding emerges of the agential properties of (...) artefacts and their essential role in establishing a social imaginary of the state. (shrink)

Precision medicine and digital phenotyping are two prominent data-based approaches within digital medicine. While precision medicine historically used primarily genetic data to find targeted treatment options, digital phenotyping relies on the usage of big data deriving from digital devices such as smartphones, wearables and other connected devices. This paper first focusses on the aspect of data type to explore differences and similarities between precision medicine and digital phenotyping. It outlines different ways of data collection and production and the consequences (...) thereof. Second, it shows how these sorts of data influence dominant beliefs in the field: The field of precision medicine relying on the dominant understanding of ‘genetic determinism’ imported from genetics, digital phenotyping building on the logic of ‘data fundamentalism’. In the end, the analysis shows how digital data informs potentials as well as challenges of precision medicine and digital phenotyping: a better health care for individuals connected with individualisation and responsibilisation for all, with a prognosed shift from reactive to preventive medicine. Additionally, data-based approaches might facilitate epistemological and ontological redirections for the whole field of medicine that will also affect knowledge production and a reassessment of the value of different types of knowledge with all its consequences. Institutionally, it might lead to shifts in distribution of power to experts in big data related technologies, i.e. private companies. (shrink)

Cognitive assessment and training through computerized methods are excellent concepts for maintaining cognitive function during occupational/operational challenges. Multitasking is required during various military operations, which creates a mental workload. Optimum working memory (visual, spatial, and auditory) capacity helps to maintain mental workload. The proposed research emphasizes assessing the mental workload using eye-tracking measures during a desktop-based dual N-back task comprising three sub-stages (n = 1, n = 2, n = 3). A wearable eye tracker was used to acquire the eye (...) tracking data from 29 individuals, and the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLx) Score was utilized to calculate the assessed mental workload. The study found associations between participant accuracy on the Dual N-Back test and Pupil Diameter, Shannon Entropy, and Fixation Count. These results expand our understanding of the cognitive mechanisms behind dual N-Back tasks and their connection to mental workload. Higher mental workload has been associated with lower fixation count and accuracy, as fixation count and accuracy showed inverse associations with workload. On the other hand, pupil diameter showed a positive association with workload, indicating that higher levels of mental workload were associated with larger pupil dilation. The K-Means Clustering Algorithm, Decision Tree, and Random Forest Classifiers were trained using the generated dataset, and the corresponding accuracies were also derived to use the study results conclusively. (shrink)

Alfons Schilling began his long‐term investigations on perception during the early 1960s by designing motion paintings,1 and continued the research with design of optical instruments called Vision Machines.2 Schilling's experiments were constructed as head‐worn objects, or instruments, in various shapes and sizes, which transformed the viewer's perception through first‐hand experience.

The wearable technology field, including terms and areas such as wearable computing and fashionable technology, has been evolving at the cross-section of various disciplines including science, technology, arts, augmented reality, design, cybernetics, ergonomics and fashion. As an example, the research community in wearable computing has been carrying out profound work in understanding and defining many key principles in the field. According to these researchers, the wearable computer is understood as a kind of extension of the body, which enables it to (...) perform tasks that would not otherwise be possible, such as being in several places at the same time.1This is an example of one of the approaches currently existing in this multifaceted field. The field also contains other detectable approaches, each with their own distinct aim. These approaches vary from developing solutions to engineering problems to developments in fashion and design and further to more conceptual approaches in addressing the field with what the author refers to as a playful attitude. When one investigates various projects in the wearable field more closely one can detect at least three clearly distinct approaches. The first approach is to follow the general guidelines for wearable computing development and objectives defined during the 1990s. The second approach sometimes called fashionable technology, to some extent follows similar directives as the first approach, but, in addition, it is strongly related to traditions and expectations in the areas of fashion and textile. The third approach has self-defined aims, which are partially contradictory to the general goals prevailing in the field. This third approach has been left almost without a notice in publications emerging from the field as well as in other theoretical writings concerned of art and technology. Until now the wearable technology field has been discussed primarily as one unified area striving towards similar goals.This article investigates this third approach. It asks how and why some of the projects in the field seem to differ from the general goals persisting in the field, and examines what the possible motivations and intentions behind this alternative approach are. Lastly, the article introduces the Hybronaut as a concept related to the author's practice and research. (shrink)

In this paper, we explore digitally fabricated aesthetic enhancements and modifications of the body as well as digitally fabricated fauna habitats. We will address how we utilize speculative works through our bio inspired digitally fabricated designs via two of our most recent projects: {skin} D.E.E.P. and in silico et in situ. Through these two projects we explore cultural implications of the intersection of technology and biologically inspired art/design. Technology has provided an ever increasing amount of data which has facilitated the (...) way data can be used in aesthetic explorations. Technology can redefine the human experience by enhancing our senses, experiences, and forms of expression. In our work {skin} D.E.E.P., we explore these ideas via augmentation through wearables and biomimetic expressions on the skin through digitally fabricated prosthetics. {skin} D.E.E.P. employs temporary biomimetic skin patterns via wearable 3D printed exoskeletons. The first series of this work mimics the patterns and textures of animal skin via ephemeral impressions onto human skin. Taking inspiration from shedding snakeskin, we shed the outer layer by removing the 3D printed prosthesis. The epidermis retains the negative imprint of the prosthetic mimicking the look of serpent skin. The dermis reestablishes the smooth form of the human skin as it heals itself within the hour, erasing the ephemeral imprint, symbolically representing rebirth and renewal. Investigating the ephemeral aesthetic of textured patterns on human skin will not by any means provide a solution to an engineering problem, yet acts as a larger philosophical basis to conduct a discussion about the possibilities of blending bio inspired designs. The manifestation of data into physical form occurs via digital fabrication in our most recent series in silico et in situ: fauna habitats in the age of voxels, where we aim to create a new ecosystem for animals and to potentially augment their habitat. The habitats include pollinator waterers, spider habitats and turtle basking platforms. This project pushes forward with a new piece—the development of a 20-foot avian sculpture that will solely exist to support the habitat of the Chimney Swift species. The Chimney Swift is a near-threatened bird species in the US. in silico et in situ investigates the interplay of art, nature and technology by contextualizing sculptural works and placing these sculptures into nature. The project serves as a breeding ground for a larger dialogue about nature, culture, human intervention, design art and technology. Providing the artwork in the public sphere, barrier free in nature, fosters this discourse. (shrink)

Wearables sind Computertechnologien, die man am Körper oder am Kopf trägt. Sie sind eine Konkretisierung des Ubiquitous Computing, der Allgegenwart der Datenverarbeitung, und ein Teil des Internets der Dinge. Man spricht auch von Wearable Technology und vom Wearable Computer.

Wearables sind Computertechnologien, die man am Körper oder am Kopf trägt. Sie sind eine Konkretisierung des Ubiquitous Computing, der Allgegenwart der Datenverarbeitung, und ein Teil des Internets der Dinge. Man spricht auch von Wearable Technology und vom Wearable Computer. Sinn und Zweck ist meist die Unterstützung einer Tätigkeit in der realen Welt, etwa durch (Zusatz-)Informationen, Auswertungen und Anweisungen.

Smart-home technologies, comprising environmental sensors, wearables and video are attracting interest in home healthcare delivery. Development of such technology is usually justified on the basis of the technology’s potential to increase the autonomy of people living with long-term conditions. Studies of the ethics of smart-homes raise concerns about privacy, consent, social isolation and equity of access. Few studies have investigated the ethical perspectives of smart-home engineers themselves. By exploring the views of engineering researchers in a large smart-home project, we (...) sought to contribute to dialogue between ethics and the engineering community. Either face-to-face or using Skype, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 20 early- and mid-career smart-home researchers from a multi-centre smart-home project, who were asked to describe their own experience and to reflect more broadly about ethical considerations that relate to smart-home design. With participants’ consent, interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using a thematic approach. Two overarching themes emerged: in ‘Privacy’, researchers indicated that they paid close attention to negative consequences of potential unauthorised information sharing in their current work. However, when discussing broader issues in smart-home design beyond the confines of their immediate project, researchers considered physical privacy to a lesser extent, even though physical privacy may manifest in emotive concerns about being watched or monitored. In ‘Choice’, researchers indicated they often saw provision of choice to end-users as a solution to ethical dilemmas. While researchers indicated that choices of end-users may need to be restricted for technological reasons, ethical standpoints that restrict choice were usually assumed and embedded in design. The tractability of informational privacy may explain the greater attention that is paid to it. However, concerns about physical privacy may reduce acceptability of smart-home technologies to future end-users. While attention to choice suggests links with privacy, this may misidentify the sources of privacy and risk unjustly burdening end-users with problems that they cannot resolve. Separating considerations of choice and privacy may result in more satisfactory treatment of both. Finally, through our engagement with researchers as participants this study demonstrates the relevance of ethics as a critical partner to smart-home engineering. (shrink)

This article examines entanglements between a fitness wearable device, the data it collects and visualizes, and the body-mind they claim to represent. Drawing on embodied insights from my experience as a transmasculine-identified member of a ‘science-backed, technology-tracked’ fitness experience and employing discourse and visual analysis of marketing materials and conversations on a public subreddit for enthusiasts, the article places ‘misfit bodies’ – rather than the unmarked, universal ‘body’ – at the centre of conversations about fitness wearables and self-tracking data. (...) Employing queer/trans critique enables analysis of forms of difference that mediate and compose all bodies and illuminates the regulatory norms and technologies through which they are produced. Throughout, the article foregrounds how selves, bodies, data, and technologies are entangled in mutual and open-ended becomings that exceed the assumed transformation of wearable users into neoliberal healthist subjects. (shrink)

Alongside the increasing popularity of digital, ‘social’ media platforms, has been the emergence of self-styled digital life-coaches, many of whom seek to propagate their knowledge of and interests in a variety of topics through online social networks (such as, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, etc.). With many of these ‘social influencers’ garnering a large online following, their popularity, social significance and cultural impact offers important insights into the place and purpose of the subject in our digital media environment. Accordingly, this chapter will (...) examine the proliferation of digital media technologies, which, on the one hand, propose the dissolution of the subject (wearable technology, technological singularity, etc.), while on the other, provide new opportunities for discovering, ‘sharing’ and/or improving one’s ‘inner-Self’ (digital media gurus, online health and fitness regimes, etc.). It is in considering how the effects of this ‘digital subject’ redefines traditional (Cartesian) conceptions, that the relative significance of ‘Digital Guru Media’ (DGM) can be drawn. In particular, explicit attention is given to examining how our engagements with social media can be considered in relation to Lacan’s (2002) notion of the big Other and its relevance in introducing, examining and, possibly, subverting, the digital media guru. (shrink)

I am grateful for the variety of feedback. Three themes struck me: first, commentators recognised the value of open notes but underlined the importance of exploring unintended consequences of the innovation particularly for already disadvantaged populations; second, they suggested nocebo effects might arise via additional routes not identified in my paper; third, they signalled the need for further empirical and ethical exploration of nocebo effects. Exploring all three issues and offering a commentary that was equal parts intriguing and perturbing, Chang (...) and Torous proposed nocebo effects and other harms might be ubiquitous in the digital health space. 1 For example, they hypothesised that the preoccupation with checking health tracking data including adverse readings or outcomes available via downloadable apps and wearable devices might induce nocebo effects. This supposition is worthy of further scrutiny. Chang and Torous also highlighted the lack of research into potentially disparate effects of digital... (shrink)

_Exploring the origins and lasting significance of a dynamic, subversive, and interactive art form_ This is the first publication to consider art to wear, also known as wearable art, as a discrete American movement that mirrored the cultural, political, social, and spiritual concerns of a generation that came of age in the late 1960s and 1970s. Trained primarily in the fine arts, they adopted nontraditional forms, materials, and techniques to create works using the body as an armature. Collectively, these practitioners (...) have had a significant but underrecognized impact on art making and education. Their legacy continues today among younger artists who have embraced multimedia forms of expression. Rich archival and newly commissioned photography bring to life one-of-a-kind work by more than 75 artists, including Gaza Bowen, Jean Cacicedo, Marian Clayden, Ben Compton, Marika Contompasis, Nicki Hitz Edson, Tim Harding, Sharron Hedges, Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Nina Vivian Huryn, Whitney Kent, Ina Kozel, Susanna Lewis, Janet Lipkin, K. Lee Manuel, Linda Mendelson, Norma Minkowitz, Anna VA Polesny, Debra Rapoport, Mario Rivoli, Dina Schwartz, Joan Steiner, Arlene Stimmel, Jamie Summers, JoEllen Trilling, and Katherine Westphal. _Off the Wall_ provides a detailed introduction to art to wear between 1967 and 1997 and elucidates the movement’s origins by linking it to developments in the arts of the period, from fiber art to painting. (shrink)

Digital twins (DTs), advanced virtual models powered by AI, real-time data from wearable sensors, and predictive analytics, represent a groundbreaking approach to personalised healthcare. For transgender (trans) individuals, who often face systemic obstacles such as discrimination, limited access to affirming care and misgendering in medical settings, DTs offer a promising avenue for tailored, gender-affirming healthcare. These models can simulate the physiological and psychological impacts of interventions like hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or gender-affirming surgeries with high precision, aligning medical care with (...) individual identities and needs. Drawing on Guerrero Quiñones and Puzio,1 who argue that DTs not only mirror a patient’s physical body but also shape their virtual identity, this commentary examines the ethical, practical and social dimensions of designing inclusive DTs for trans healthcare. It emphasises bioethical principles, participatory codesign and strategies to ensure equitable access and representation. DTs combine AI, big data analytics and sensor technology to create dynamic, patient-specific models that enhance diagnosis, prognosis and treatment planning. For trans individuals, DTs could transform gender-affirming care by offering precise simulations of HRT effects, such as changes in body composition or emotional well-being, or visualising surgical outcomes tailored to individual goals. However, as Guerrero Quiñones and Puzio1 note, grounded in queer phenomenology, DTs are not neutral tools, they actively construct …. (shrink)

This article examines what Chile’s neurorights reforms may mean for South Africa (SA)’s legal and ethical framework. Chile is the first country to adopt an explicit constitutional and legislative response to neurotechnology, including protection for brain activity and information derived from it. Using Chile as a comparative lens, the article argues that SA does not necessarily require an immediate sui generis constitutional amendment to address neurorights-type concerns. Rather, existing constitutional protections for dignity, privacy, bodily and psychological integrity, freedom of thought (...) and informed consent are already normatively receptive to many of the harms posed by emerging neurotechnologies. The more urgent challenge lies in timing; SA law remains largely reactive, often offering remedies only after intrusion, extraction or misuse has already occurred. The article therefore contends that protection should move upstream through proactive, risk-sensitive procedural reform and anticipatory governance, particularly in high-risk contexts involving coercion, asymmetrical power or intimate mental inference. It further argues that a neurotechnology-sensitive interpretation of existing rights, informed by local constitutional doctrine, neuroethics, and SA concerns around dignity, vulnerability and relational personhood, provides a more coherent and contextually appropriate path than immediate constitutional transplantation. The article concludes by outlining the general contours of ex ante safeguards for neurotechnology in SA while leaving open the possibility that more explicit neurorights protections may become necessary if existing doctrines prove systematically under-protective. (shrink)

Rapid advances in biology, electronics, computer and data science have turned invention into products, changing the lives and lifestyles of millions of people around the world. This mini-review will describe some remarkable progress made over the last 10 years which serves both healthy individuals and patients alike. With a forward looking lens towards long term space missions and the potential colonisation of the Moon and Mars, we discuss three technologies under development. We conclude with a distant looking perspective on the (...) prospect of gene mediated human enhancement and highlight the importance of aligning benefit for people on Earth with goals for future space missions and the need to establish regulatory and ethical guidelines. (shrink)

The use of digital tracking technologies is a widespread phenomenon. Millions of people around the world now track, document, and analyse their physical activities, vital functions, and daily habits through wearable devices, apps, and platforms. The aim is to assess and improve health, productivity, and wellbeing. The current Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the uptake of tracking technologies. At the heart of this trend lies the quantification of the body, deemed as a key element in medical practice and personal self-care. While (...) often couched in positive promotional terms that highlight its value to users' mental, emotional, and physical health, it is also raising a host of issues and concerns that are at once ontological, ethical, political, social, legal, economic, and aesthetic. The Quantification of Bodies in Health aims to deepen understanding of this growing phenomenon and of the role of self-tracking practices in everyday life. It brings together established and emerging authors working at the intersection of philosophy, sociology, history, psychology, and digital culture, while bridging between philosophical and empirical approaches. A timely topic of extreme relevance and significance, The Quantification of Bodies in Health constitutes a useful and unique companion for anyone interested in the study of body quantification and self-tracking practices. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: The Fashion Cyborgs and Supermodels.

This article discusses the contributions that information-access-facilitator technologies promise to deliver in implementing ethical safeguards in the use of nudging techniques. It begins by identifying two broad issues within the debate on the ethics of nudging: first, the risk of misalignment between will and action that nudges can impose, and second, citizens' tendency to be oblivious to normatively relevant information regarding nudges. The subsequent analysis focuses on the safeguards intended to mitigate these two issues. Proceeding with the main argument, the (...) article contends that leveraging technological potential can enhance the effectiveness of safeguards. Technologies meant to facilitate access to information, such as apps, Internet of Things products, wearable technologies, virtual assistants, and augmented reality applications, can be used as friction minimizers for obtaining information, saliency enhancers, enablers of information retrieval, and proactive measures to mitigate misjudgments, and can be characterized by a polymorphic warning design, resulting in nudging interventions that optimally fulfill ethical demands. (shrink)

The scientific study of lucid sleep, defined as the ability to retain critical self-awareness during ongoing sleep, has traditionally focused on lucid dreaming and induction techniques that specifically target REM sleep. Recently, interest has grown to include other forms of lucid sleep, such as out-of-body experiences, sleep paralysis, and “witnessing-sleep” episodes described in Indian philosophical traditions. Empirical data on these states remain limited, primarily due to the lack of specific induction techniques designed for their study. In this case series study, (...) we examine four individuals who reported lucid sleep episodes in a controlled laboratory setting, using a novel induction method combining pre-sleep meditation and visual stimulation. While this method requires future validation, we captured five lucid sleep episodes, including one instance of lucid dreamless sleep, one out-of-body-like experience, and three different types of lucid dreams. Sleep was monitored using wearable EEGs and submental EMGs. A detailed phenomenological analysis provided further context for these experiences, which were reported during both REM and non-REM sleep. Together, the induction protocol and findings described here may inform future research on lucid sleep and altered states of consciousness during sleep. (shrink)

Wearable devices are increasingly present in the health context, as tools for biomedical research and clinical care. In this context, wearables are considered key tools for a more digital, personalised, preventive medicine. At the same time, wearables have also been associated with issues and risks, such as those connected to privacy and data sharing. Yet, discussions in the literature have mostly focused on either technical or ethical considerations, framing these as largely separate areas of discussion, and the contribution (...) of wearables to the collection, development, application of biomedical knowledge has only partially been discussed. To fill in these gaps, in this article we provide an epistemic (knowledgerelated) overview of the main functions of wearable technology for health: monitoring, screening, detection, and prediction. On this basis, we identify 4 areas of concern in the application of wearables for these functions: data quality, balanced estimations, health equity, and fairness. To move the field forward in an effective and beneficial direction, we present recommendations for the 4 areas: local standards of quality, interoperability, access, and representativity. (shrink)

New approaches to biomedical evidence are emerging in relation to innovative technologies and data sources. These include digital health, which promises to revolutionise established paradigms such as Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) and address longstanding criticism from philosophy and beyond. In this paper, we investigate the promises and show the limitations of digital health for the epistemology of medicine. Focusing on a paradigmatic type of digital health technologies – wearable devices – we specify the key epistemic assumptions at the basis of digital (...) health and show their grounding on ideas of internal and external validity that come from EBM and promise to fix its limitations. Hence, digital health is expected to address longstanding issues of EBM and expand and reinforce its paradigm, and yet going in this direction exacerbates and creates concerns for the epistemology of medical evidence, with ethical and social implications too. In observational studies, we show that wearables are used with the assumption of extending EBM approaches to internal validity. Yet new and different issues emerge, leading to complicated trade-offs and concerns about overdetection and high false positive rates. In intervention studies, wearables are used with the assumption of creating a larger and more diverse evidential basis, potentially mitigating concerns about external validity. However, we argue that this can exacerbate and create new issues of representativity. Behind the hype, we thus paint a nuanced picture of the contribution of digital health to EBM and biomedical research and show the need to acknowledge limitations to avoid harmful applications. (shrink)

Digital technologies hold promise to modernize healthcare. Such opportunity should be leveraged also to address the needs of rapidly ageing populations. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the use of wearable devices for promoting healthy ageing. Previous work has assessed the prospects of digital technologies for health promotion and disease prevention in older adults. However, to our knowledge, ours is one of the first attempts to specifically address the use of wearables for healthy ageing, and to offer ethical insights (...) for assessing the prospects of leveraging wearable devices in this context. We provide an analysis of the considerable opportunities associated with the use of wearables for healthy ageing, with a focus on the five domains of intrinsic capacity: locomotion, sensory functions, psychological aspects, cognition, and vitality. We then highlight current limitations and ethical challenges of such approach to healthy ageing, including issues related to access, inclusion, privacy, surveillance, autonomy, and regulation. We conclude by discussing the implications of our analysis in light of current debates on the ethics of digital health, and suggest measures to address the identified challenges. (shrink)

A ‘human digital twin’ (HDT) is a representation of a human from the physical world in the digital world that includes several dimensions, such as physical, behavioural, social, physiological, cognitive and biological aspects. HDTs are an emerging field of study, emerging serendipitously from wearable devices in various fitness and wellness applications, and have become increasingly relevant in precision medicine, as hyper-personalised digital human twins. Today, moreover, real-time biometric data is helping health and fitness care in relation to prevention and prediction. (...) In the same vein, human physiological parameters present in emotions, such as fear, could help in the context of women's mobility safety in urban areas. A human digital twin could be created that evolves throughout a woman's life, providing her with guidance and safety suggestions for her mobility, and assistance in case of need in emergency situations. In this article we present AngelaDT, a custom-designed Human Digital Twin to improve the safety of women's mobility in urban areas. In addition, the platform supporting the digital human twin and its life cycle are also described. (shrink)

In _Listening in the Afterlife of Data_, David Cecchetto theorizes sound, communication, and data by analyzing them in the contexts of the practical workings of specific technologies, situations, and artworks. In a time he calls the afterlife of data—the cultural context in which data’s hegemony persists even in the absence of any belief in its validity—Cecchetto shows how data is repositioned as the latest in a long line of concepts that are at once constitutive of communication and suggestive of its (...) limits. Cecchetto points to the failures and excesses of communication by focusing on the power of listening—whether through wearable technology, internet-based artwork, or the ways in which computers process sound—to pragmatically comprehend the representational excesses that data produces. Writing at a cultural moment in which data has never been more ubiquitous or less convincing, Cecchetto elucidates the paradoxes that are constitutive of computation and communication more broadly, demonstrating that data is never quite what it seems. (shrink)

Assistive Device Art derives from the integration of Assistive Technology and Art, involving the mediation of sensorimotor functions and perception from both, psychophysical methods and conceptual mechanics of sensory embodiment. This paper describes the concept of ADA and its origins by observing the phenomena that surround the aesthetics of prosthesis-related art. It also analyzes one case study, the Echolocation Headphones, relating its provenience and performance to this new conceptual and psychophysical approach of tool design. This ADA tool is designed to (...) aid human echolocation. They facilitate the experience of sonic vision, as a way of reflecting and learning about the construct of our spatial perception. Echolocation Headphones are a pair of opaque goggles which disable the participant’s vision. This device emits a focused sound beam which activates the space with directional acoustic reflection, giving the user the ability to navigate and perceive space through audition. The directional properties of parametric sound provide the participant a focal echo, similar to the focal point of vision. This study analyzes the effectiveness of this wearable sensory extension for aiding auditory spatial location in three experiments; optimal sound type and distance for object location, perceptual resolution by just noticeable difference, and goal-directed spatial navigation for open pathway detection, all conducted at the Virtual Reality Lab of the University of Tsukuba, Japan. The Echolocation Headphones have been designed for a diverse participant base. They have both the potential to aid auditory spatial perception for the visually impaired and to train sighted individuals in gaining human echolocation abilities. Furthermore, this Assistive Device artwork instigates participants to contemplate on the plasticity of their sensorimotor architecture. (shrink)

This research examines wearable, fashionable interaction design to mediate the narrative and semiotic concepts found in technology and fashion. We discuss the principles of design anthropology using Taiwan proverbs to transmit the “people-situation-reason-object” method and analyze five case studies that provide new approaches for designers engaged in future industry. Design anthropology attempts to engage physiological and psychological design through technological function, meaning formation, and fashion aesthetics to achieve cognition between people and the environment. The wearable, fashionable interaction displays characteristics of (...) narrative and semantics transmitted through craft culture as well as collective, cheerful, and creative performance. It is a confident and innovative attempt, which bears a joyful and fundamental interface. This study takes two directions, with cultural thinking serving as the basis to establish a set of traditional craft designs and interactive objects that assist designers in using the senses to inform and initiate new lifestyle values. (shrink)

This paper describes the development of a range of “wearable tools” that were created specifically to elicit response and help establish relationships. By focusing on the notion that we are social animals, my intention is to present an approach to creating wearable prototypes based on the understanding of our interpersonal communication and social relationships. This approach is concerned with the study of our non-verbal behaviour and communication. I intend to establish the need for such an approach, outlining the various fields (...) of research that have facilitated a number of wearable prototypes that indicate ways forward for future work. (shrink)