{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T23:21:47Z","timestamp":1777936907506,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,18]],"date-time":"2017-07-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1500336000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This article draws upon cultural techniques theory to propose an approach to studying haptic media as media technologies which train or discipline touch and which serve to produce touch itself as a coherent and \u2018proper\u2019 communicative technology. This article analyses the different forms of touch which have coalesced around the sphygmograph, a nineteenth-century pulse writing technology, and photoplethysmography, a contemporary heart rate\u2013measuring technology which has been remediated as part of the Apple Watch. This article demonstrates that nineteenth-century clinicians drew upon the sphygmograph to authorise doctorly touch as newly \u2018proper\u2019 within a changed technological context. By contrast, an analysis of the place of error within the Apple Watch\u2019s photoplethysmograph demonstrates how contemporary self-quantifiers are encumbered with an unreliable measuring apparatus which can only generalise a form of \u2018improper\u2019 touch, touch which fails to know the body and which remains tied to a \u2018proper\u2019 touch which lies elsewhere.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444817717514","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,20]],"date-time":"2017-07-20T12:11:22Z","timestamp":1500552682000},"page":"1615-1631","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Haptic media and the cultural techniques of touch: The sphygmograph, photoplethysmography and the Apple Watch"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Christopher","family":"O\u2019Neill","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Melbourne, Australia"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444817717514","unstructured":"Alger K (2015) Why the Apple Watch is missing a beat. Wareable. Available at: http:\/\/www.wareable.com\/apple\/why-the-apple-watch-hr-is-missing-a-beat-244"},{"key":"bibr2-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1088\/0967-3334\/28\/3\/R01"},{"key":"bibr3-1461444817717514","unstructured":"Apple (2015) Your heart rate. Available at: https:\/\/support.apple.com\/en-us\/HT204666"},{"key":"bibr4-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-0009.2009.00563.x"},{"key":"bibr5-1461444817717514","first-page":"244","volume-title":"Medicine and the Five Senses","author":"Borell M","year":"1993"},{"key":"bibr6-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1515\/9780295805788","volume-title":"The Pulse of Modernism: Physiological Aesthetics in Fin-de-Si\u00e8cle Europe","author":"Brain R","year":"2015"},{"key":"bibr7-1461444817717514","volume-title":"The Pulse","author":"Broadbent W","year":"1890"},{"key":"bibr8-1461444817717514","volume-title":"Handbook of the Sphygmograph","author":"Burdon-Sanderson J","year":"1867"},{"key":"bibr9-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1470412906066906"},{"key":"bibr10-1461444817717514","first-page":"1","volume":"18","author":"Colebrook C","year":"2013","journal-title":"Parrhesia"},{"key":"bibr11-1461444817717514","volume-title":"Techniques of the Observer: On Vision and Modernity in the Nineteenth Century","author":"Crary J","year":"1990"},{"key":"bibr12-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/2928741"},{"key":"bibr13-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-007-7064-5"},{"key":"bibr14-1461444817717514","volume-title":"The Sphygmograph: Its History and Use as an Aid to Diagnosis in Ordinary Practice","author":"Dudgeon R","year":"1882"},{"key":"bibr15-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Elo M (2012) Digital finger: beyond phenomenological figures of touch. Journal of Aesthetics and Culture 4. Available at: http:\/\/www.aestheticsandculture.net\/index.php\/jac\/article\/view\/14982 (accessed 10 June 2016).","DOI":"10.3402\/jac.v4i0.14982"},{"key":"bibr16-1461444817717514","volume-title":"The Pulse-Sensations: A Study in Tactile Sphygmology","author":"Ewart W","year":"1894"},{"key":"bibr17-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1163\/9789004418509"},{"key":"bibr18-1461444817717514","first-page":"585","volume-title":"Dits et \u00c9crits I 1954\u20131975","author":"Foucault M","year":"2001"},{"key":"bibr19-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0263276413488962"},{"key":"bibr20-1461444817717514","first-page":"198","volume-title":"Medicine and the Five Senses","author":"Gilman S","year":"1993"},{"key":"bibr21-1461444817717514","volume-title":"Bodies in Code: Interfaces with Digital Media","author":"Hansen M","year":"2006"},{"key":"bibr22-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1357034X15604031"},{"key":"bibr23-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1152\/ajplegacy.1938.124.2.328"},{"key":"bibr24-1461444817717514","first-page":"334","volume":"119","author":"Hertzman A","year":"1937","journal-title":"American Journal of Physiology"},{"key":"bibr25-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dyp180"},{"key":"bibr26-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-7643-7612-3_1"},{"key":"bibr27-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0025727300032324"},{"key":"bibr28-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-12-418662-0.00023-4"},{"key":"bibr29-1461444817717514","unstructured":"Lieff Cabrasser, Heimann Bernstein (2016) Fitbit heart rate monitors fraud and defects lawsuit. Available at: http:\/\/www.lieffcabraser.com\/defect\/fitbit-heart-monitor\/"},{"key":"bibr30-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/09581596.2013.794931"},{"key":"bibr31-1461444817717514","volume-title":"La M\u00e9thode Graphique dans les Sciences Exp\u00e9rimentales","author":"Marey E","year":"1885"},{"key":"bibr32-1461444817717514","volume-title":"Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man","author":"McLuhan M","year":"1994"},{"key":"bibr33-1461444817717514","volume-title":"To save Everything Click Here","author":"Morozov E","year":"2013"},{"key":"bibr34-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.amjcard.2005.09.091"},{"key":"bibr35-1461444817717514","first-page":"1784","volume":"8","author":"Nafus D","year":"2014","journal-title":"International Journal of Communication"},{"key":"bibr36-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1089\/big.2013.0029"},{"key":"bibr37-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0263276413501206"},{"key":"bibr38-1461444817717514","first-page":"189","volume-title":"Media, Technology and Literature in the Nineteenth Century: Image, Sound, Touch","author":"Parisi D","year":"2011"},{"key":"bibr39-1461444817717514","volume-title":"The Sense of Touch: Haptics, Affects and Technologies","author":"Paterson M","year":"2007"},{"issue":"177","key":"bibr40-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"97","DOI":"10.3917\/res.177.0097","volume":"1","author":"Pharabod A","year":"2013","journal-title":"R\u00e9seaux"},{"key":"bibr41-1461444817717514","first-page":"206","volume-title":"Sexual Underworlds of the Enlightenment","author":"Porter R","year":"1987"},{"key":"bibr42-1461444817717514","first-page":"179","volume-title":"Medicine and the Five Senses","author":"Porter R","year":"1993"},{"key":"bibr43-1461444817717514","volume-title":"Medicine and the Reign of Technology","author":"Reiser S","year":"1978"},{"key":"bibr44-1461444817717514","first-page":"262","volume-title":"Medicine and the Five Senses","author":"Reiser S","year":"1993"},{"key":"bibr45-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9781400827503"},{"key":"bibr46-1461444817717514","volume-title":"The Parasite","author":"Serres M","year":"1982"},{"key":"bibr47-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/grey.2007.1.29.26"},{"key":"bibr48-1461444817717514","unstructured":"Singh J (2015) Apple watch allegedly delivers inaccurate heart rate readings. International Business Times. Available at: http:\/\/www.ibtimes.co.uk\/apple-watch-allegedly-delivers-inaccurate-heart-rate-readings-1525708"},{"key":"bibr49-1461444817717514","first-page":"379","volume-title":"Picturing Science\/Producing Art","author":"Snyder J","year":"1998"},{"key":"bibr50-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/electronics3020282"},{"key":"bibr51-1461444817717514","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0263276413500828"},{"key":"bibr52-1461444817717514","unstructured":"Wolf G (2010) The data-driven life. The New York Times Magazine. Available at: http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/05\/02\/magazine\/02self-measurement-t.html"}],"container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1461444817717514","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/1461444817717514","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1461444817717514","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T03:46:06Z","timestamp":1777693566000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1461444817717514"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,18]]},"references-count":52,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,10]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/1461444817717514"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1461444817717514","relation":{},"ISSN":["1461-4448","1461-7315"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1461-4448","type":"print"},{"value":"1461-7315","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,18]]}}}