Communicating the Urban Experience through Biosensing: A Participatory Approach

Abstract

Advances in biosensing technologies have led to the commercialization of novel lightweight wearable devices, which have been praised by urban scholars for offering the possibility to quantify emotions in real-world settings, something that had proven to be very challenging until now. Although many studies mix biosensing with qualitative methods to provide a clearer picture of what physiological data might mean in terms of emotions, there has been little exploration of how people interpret their own biodata. Following calls for greater attention to participation in biosensing studies, this article explores the nuances of the interpretation of biodata by research participants. Drawing on the findings of a study in which participants were invited to reflect on and discuss their own biodata during and after a walk in a high street in Lisbon, we show how exposing participants to biodata creates moments of bounded interference that foster in-depth reflection about the urban experience. With this in mind, we discuss how bounded interference can be a generative driver for more detailed discussions about spatial experiences.