抄録
Taiwan’s Professional Baseball League （CPBL） benefits from the Precision Sports Science Research Project established by the Ministry of Science and Technology （MOST） in Taiwan in 2018, responsible for developing the Karma Zone system, which was officially introduced into the CPBL in 2020.
This research analyzes and discusses this initiative by the MOST in Taiwan through the perspective of Actor-Network Theory （ANT）. It examines the process of integrating sports technology into the sports system as part of a government-led policy initiative and the construction of networks that facilitate this integration. It further explores how athletes’ “natural bodies” are transformed and relationships among athletes, coaches, technology developers and data analysts evolve as they adopt specific technologies within a cultural context.
This research is mainly based on semi-structured interviews, supplemented by documentary materials. The interview respondents included a project director from MOST, a CPBL manager, a professional baseball team general manager, a coach, a data analyst, a player, and a university professor. Documentary sources included news media reports, official data and relevant academic literature published since 2018.
The findings suggest MOST, a government department not specializing in sport, became a pioneer in promoting interdisciplinary cooperation and industry-academia collaboration between universities and building cross-disciplinary networks by drawing attention to the importance of technology implementation in elite sport, in addition to supporting technology development and implementation. Secondly, the paper reveals a conflict between scientific knowledge and body knowledge among technology developers, coaches and players in the process of developing sports technology.
In conclusion, the introduction of technology is transforming our perception of the body from a “natural body” to one that combines “nature” and “technology”.
Given the relationships between the four actors-MOST （government）, coaches and players, technology developers and data analysts, and technology itself-individual bodies are positioned in and reflect a network based on communication between human and non-human actors.
ANT makes it possible to focus on changes in the relationships between individuals and complex networks. On the one hand, there is the construction and control of networks led by the government, and on the other, it reveals the complex relationship in which athlete’s body is both individual and existing within a network that reflects the interrelationship between the body and technology. This research has shown that these complex relationships are an unavoidable issue given the fusion of modern sport and technology.
