christophb
07-05-2007, 02:39 AM
Thought this (http://biomapping.net/) was interesting, not sure how useful, but interesting. It's a project looking at GSR in relation to GPS monitor coordinates as people move about cities.
Interrogating the Individual
In Western society, individuals are continuously monitored by technical systems, everything from CCTV cameras that follow our movements to the microscopic level of magnetic resonance scans that record our responses to a variety of stimuli.
These apparently unconnected technical systems are all part of an attempt to interpret and manage the minute functions of human beings.
What effect does this kind of continuous ambient monitoring have on how we imagine ourselves and others around us?
In the shadow of this type of top down interrogation of the individual the Bio mapping project suggests a different type of body politic.
The central notion of Bio Mapping is that we can make better sense of our own body data than a disinterested observer.
By recording our own body's bio data along with our geographic location we can review the information and make meaningful decisions about our life.
Furthermore those close to us both physically and socially may have a certain interest in how we interpret our environment.
By allowing people to make active choices about how to share this intimate yet ambiguous data we not only create radically new social relations but we also change our own perception of ourselves from being at the mercy of these nearly invisible technical systems to becoming their master.
This process in turn suggests a whole range of new technologies that invert the control paradigm of biometric technologies.
Interrogating the Individual
In Western society, individuals are continuously monitored by technical systems, everything from CCTV cameras that follow our movements to the microscopic level of magnetic resonance scans that record our responses to a variety of stimuli.
These apparently unconnected technical systems are all part of an attempt to interpret and manage the minute functions of human beings.
What effect does this kind of continuous ambient monitoring have on how we imagine ourselves and others around us?
In the shadow of this type of top down interrogation of the individual the Bio mapping project suggests a different type of body politic.
The central notion of Bio Mapping is that we can make better sense of our own body data than a disinterested observer.
By recording our own body's bio data along with our geographic location we can review the information and make meaningful decisions about our life.
Furthermore those close to us both physically and socially may have a certain interest in how we interpret our environment.
By allowing people to make active choices about how to share this intimate yet ambiguous data we not only create radically new social relations but we also change our own perception of ourselves from being at the mercy of these nearly invisible technical systems to becoming their master.
This process in turn suggests a whole range of new technologies that invert the control paradigm of biometric technologies.