Absolutely fascinating piece about how wearable activity sensors are being used by large corporations to understand how workers collaborate and ways to allow them to become more productive. Unsurprisingly, MIT Media Lab spinoff technology is in use, as much of the earlier sociometer work comes straight out of Sandy Pentland’s group’s portfolio.
The metrics measured do not include worker happiness though – which makes it seem rather dystopian. Productivity is not a proxy metric for happiness – in fact it may be an inverse-correlate. Will optimising for productivity in the short term be good for people in the long term? Do companies even care?
the future is personal 