Tenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Whether attempting to solve the latest hot-topic question in sport, striving to gain an advantage over a competitive opponent, or seeking to improve upon a performance in the aesthetic realm, we have been applying technological innovation to the understanding of human movement for as long as science and technology have been part of the human endeavor. Furthermore, as the distinction society makes between the thinking, reasoning, feeling human being and our online and technological counterparts becomes increasingly blurred, it is important to revisit the historical progression of our capability to describe human movement. In this paper, both historical and contemporary examples of scientific and technological advancement applied to human movement will presented. In certain instances, from cave drawings to cinema film to smartphone features, it can be argued that technological innovation has come about precisely due to the search for an innovative way of representing the human body in motion. In critically examining our desire to employ increasingly sophisticated means to break movement down for analysis, limitations to such approaches can be better recognized, and potential negative interactions between the science and technology of human movement and the very movement forms we wish to facilitate may be avoided.