ABSTRACT
This chapter opens with a consideration of the quantified self and the desire for self-knowledge through measurement. The quantified self is both an approach to self-monitoring and the name for a loose grouping of individuals who have championed this activity. Gary Wolf claims credit for co-organising the first ‘quantified self’ group meeting in 2008, held in Pacifica, California. The chapter considers biohacking as a more extreme form of the desire to assess and adapt the body, optimising its performance. It examines different kinds of physiological measures, including eye tracking, to reflect on how critical researchers can employ these within projects. The chapter emphasises the importance of contextualising these measures in how we interpret the data that they produce. It also explores the limits of non-specialist application of these approaches and reflect on how experimentation with these techniques can lead to more productive discussions with experts to develop follow-up projects.
