Desma9_Sp23_Final_Essay

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Sociology Professor Victoria Vesna Desma 9: Art, Science, & Technology June 14, 2023 Technology + Art Technology has always fascinated me, considering how much it has developed over the years. The world has become much easier to navigate due to the advances technology has provided us. As someone who is a sociology major, I have learned that interactions always have an influence on our perspectives, whether it be face to face or through a screen on social media/television. Society has created the image of a “perfect” body, influencing others to think they need to change their body to fit in or feel better about themselves. I chose to discuss technology and art because of the advances it can provide for my idea of the body watch. I have felt influenced by society on the topic of body image because of interactions. From a little girl, I have always seen myself and have been told I was “skinny.” Not only that, as an athlete it is important for me to keep up with my fitness and make sure I am fueling enough to perform well. While I use a smart watch and constantly look to see if I have burned enough calories or taken enough steps, it is hard to know if I am actually achieving what I need to. My experiences as a young girl, up until now, have made me want to create something helpful for those that struggle with their body image and want a change in a healthy, natural way. However, it is important to understand what exercises and food we eat are the most beneficial to our end goal. I have seen others and have personally experienced doing the wrong things in order to achieve the body I want. Therefore, the advanced technology and help of art can be a solution to the issues society has placed on self image.

Fitness trackers were invented to help individuals track their steps, heart rate, and other aspects of physical health. The first type of fitness tracker that was invented was in 1965 by Dr. Yoshiro Hatano called the “Manpo-kei.” The name of his invention means “10,000 steps meter” which he believed could help fight obesity, along with proper food consumption and exercise routines (Meany). Advertisement of the Manpo-kei However, it wasn’t until recent years where fitness trackers were something you could wear. As technology developed, the FitBit was launched in 2009 by James Park and Eric Friedman, allowing users to clip it onto a piece of clothing of theirs so they could track their everyday movements (Santo). The science behind tracking individuals’ movements is by utilizing accelerometers in the technology of the device (“The Technology Behind Wearable Health Monitors”). As the years went on, FitBit developed the look and wear of their product along with additional features of a clock, stopwatch, GPS, weight scale, motivational messages, and much more to keep individuals on top of their health. Many people care about their health and have

found that fitness trackers are the most efficient tool to help us reach our goals. Data has shown that in 2022, 216.43 million people have been using smartwatches (Ruby 2023). It is clear that these devices have provided individuals the features they need in order to accomplish their goals as easily as putting something around their wrist. FitBit Versa 2, 2019 Due to advertising, social media, interactions, and more, it has affected the way we respond to our bodies. Many people believe they do not have the ideal body because of the images society has placed and continues to do so on the world. More than half of adults and adolescents around the world experience struggling with their body image (Linardon 2023). While it is one thing to struggle with body image, it most likely leads to negative mental outcomes like depression, anxiety, stress, isolation, etc. In relation to fitness, many perform unhealthy behaviors like under/over eating and over exercising. A study on adolescents that performed unhealthy weight control behaviors showed that 69.9% skipped meals, 23.4% fasted, 21.4% restricted their diet, 12.5% used diet pills, 12.2% smoked to lose weight, and 9% forced themselves to vomit (Vandel Wal). Since people are unsatisfied with how they look, it causes a disruption on the mental side making them feel as if they should go through these lengths in order to please themselves to feel the need of fitting into society’s eye. While these behaviors are not ideal to achieve the body

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people desire to have, it is clear that many go through them because of society’s norm of the ideal body. False advertisement of “ideal” body and how to lose weight One artist that tackled body image is a British painter, Jenny Saville, who challenged the beauty standards, especially on women (“What Does Jenny Saville Paintings Mean?”). Since society has had a great influence on what the “perfect” body is, Saville used her talent of painting to show the diversity of the human body. Her approach on body image allows the audience to rethink what a beautiful body looks like. While society has shown their version of the ideal body, Saville uses her work to prove that there is no such thing and wanted to normalize every kind of body (Masterworks). Her response to the issues of body image portray a powerful message that all bodies should be accepted and show their own beauty; and after all, every body is human. It is

inspiring to see an artist show that the world shouldn’t hold any sort of beauty standard with the help of their work; however, I would want to take a different approach with technology for those that want to transform their body, not to feel the need to do so because of society, but more importantly for themselves. Example of Jenny Saville’s diverse body paintings It is evident that technology has used its advances to benefit the people of the world in terms of health. But these watches haven’t been all beneficial, in fact, some might say it isn’t as effective as they thought it would be (Douglas-Walton). Although fitness trackers have been able to track steps, calorie burn, sleep efficiency, and more, it cannot be totally relied on, especially if one is trying to lose or gain weight to achieve their overall body image/goal. Without creating a diet or exercise plan yourself, along with tracking your health, the end goal will most likely not be achieved. While it is helpful and a good start that smart/fitness watches display a limited amount of data, advancing technology even more in these trackers would increasingly benefit the population. That is why I hope for technology to advance even further to serve society that wants

to transform their appearance. The main idea is that a fitness watch or tracker can be customized to the individuals’ goals, including characteristics of their body, understanding what the specifics the person needs/should achieve. I want to incorporate features that are able to detect how much of each nutrient is consumed and how much left should be consumed. Having the same features of tracking activity, the watch could also provide the individual with certain exercises to accomplish, depending on their end goal. The watch would be programmed to understand what the person’s body needs on a daily basis and will show their progress so the individual can easily keep track and does not need to be anxious of whether they did enough or not. With the body watch, it provides individuals what foods and exercises are good for their goals, keeping the body healthy and at the same time, satisfying the needs for it in order to get results. I believe that these features would be even more helpful, rather than just notifying the individual of how many steps they took and guessing if it was enough. I want to benefit society in terms of physical and psychological health. As one who has experienced harming both, this idea could certainly help myself and others. I understand the struggles when it comes to body image, and my desire is to prevent unhealthy behaviors from continuing by using technology to our advantage to create a healthy and effective device. This device is not meant to help others get into shape or fit into the category of the “ideal’ body, but more importantly to help those that want to achieve their goal in a healthy and knowledgeable way. Technology and science have shown to be consistently developing throughout the years. And as we continue to work with technology, more ideas and innovations will develop. For example,

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most recently, Artificial Intelligence has been a popular tool that is able to perform like a human mind. AI has been applied to many things in our lives like social media, education, healthcare, navigation, and so much more (Biswal). The way technology has advanced can only further benefit the world. Looking back at history and comparing it to now, it is clear how much the world has been able to develop and adjust to the new discoveries and inventions. In the future, I can see technology being able to produce features that are able to recognize what our bodies consist of and need with knowledge of one’s body goal. The ability technology has to create a more advanced fitness and nutrient tracker is undeniable. References

4 Health Benefits of Fitness Trackers | Sutter Health . (n.d.). Www.sutterhealth.org. https://www.sutterhealth.org/health/fitness/4-health-benefits-of-fitness-trackers Abdelhamid, M. (2021). Fitness Tracker Information and Privacy Management: Empirical Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research , 23 (11), e23059. https://doi.org/10.2196/23059 Biswal, A. (2022, May 16). Top 10 Artificial Intelligence Applications [Updated 2021] . Simplilearn.com. https://www.simplilearn.com/tutorials/artificial-intelligence-tutorial/artificial-intelligence -applications Blythe, F. (2021, October 6). Jenny Saville: the British painter challenging body norms with studies in human flesh . Hero. https://hero-magazine.com/article/195848/jenny-saville Douglas-Walton, J. (n.d.). A Study of Fitness Trackers and Wearables . HFE. https://www.hfe.co.uk/blog/a-study-of-fitness-trackers-and-wearables/ Hicks, A. (2023, April 5). What Does Jenny Saville Paintings Mean? Wayne Arthur Gallery. https://www.waynearthurgallery.com/what-does-jenny-saville-paintings-mean/#:~:text=Je nny%20Saville%27s%20paintings%20are%20a Hole, T. (2022, September 8). The Technology Behind Wearable Health Monitors . Born to Engineer. https://www.borntoengineer.com/the-technology-behind-wearable-health-monitors Laricchia, F. (2023, May 15). Global connected wearable devices 2019-2022 . Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/487291/global-connected-wearable-devices/#:~:text=B etween%202019%20and%202022%2C%20the Linardon, J. (2019, June 6). Body Image Statistics: Statistics on Body Image in Men & Women [2019] . Break Binge Eating. https://breakbingeeating.com/body-image-statistics/

Masterworks. (2022, March 9). Who is Jenny Saville? Masterworks. https://insights.masterworks.com/art/artists/jenny-saville/who-is-jenny-saville/ Mckinsey. (2023, April 24). What is AI? | McKinsey . Www.mckinsey.com. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-ai McQuillan, S. (2019, May 15). 17 Eating Habits That Lead to Weight Gain | Psychology Today . Www.psychologytoday.com. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/cravings/201905/17-eating-habits-lead-weight -gain Meaney, M. (2021, April 30). History of Activity Trackers (From Pedometers to Fitbit) [Infographic] . IRWINS MEGASTORE. https://irwinsmegastore.ie/blogs/news/history-of-activity-trackers-from-pedometers-to-fit bit-infographic#:~:text=The%20first%20proper%20activity%20or Mental Health Foundation. (2019). Body image report - Executive Summary . Www.mentalhealth.org.uk. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/articles/body-image-report-execu tive-summary Phoenix, S. (2023, February 8). Weight-Loss Statistics 2023 | Surprising Facts & Data . Great Green Wall. https://www.greatgreenwall.org/supplements/weight-loss-statistics/ Ruby, D. (2023, March 6). Smartwatch Statistics 2023: How Many People Use Smartwatches? DemandSage. https://www.demandsage.com/smartwatch-statistics/#:~:text=Most%20people%20in%20t oday

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Santo, B. (2019, November 7). The Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame: Fitbit . IEEE Spectrum. https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-consumer-electronics-hall-of-fame-fitbit Stewart, T. (2018, October 24). Saville’s “Propped” makes history, speaks to body image – The Miscellany News . https://miscellanynews.org/2018/10/24/arts/savilles-propped-makes-history-speaks-to-bo dy-image/ Vander Wal, J. S. (2011). Unhealthy weight control behaviors among adolescents. Journal of Health Psychology , 17 (1), 110–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105311409787 What is the impact of technology on art? (n.d.). ArtThou. https://www.artthou.co.uk/editorial/technology-on-art#:~:text=It%20has%20increased%2 0accessibility%20%2D%20sharing

Desma9_Sp23_Final_Essay

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