Affective Wearable Haptic Interventions: A Systematic Literature Review

The rise of haptic technology in wearable devices presents new opportunities for affective interventions, promoting mental well-being with minimal effort and immediate relief in everyday situations. This review analyzes 83 relevant articles from 1098 identified, outlining research trends and key dimensions of intervention design and evaluation. Through thematic and descriptive analysis, the studies are organized by affective goals, haptic modalities, body locations, and contextual mechanisms. Three major affective orientations were identified—valence-arousal, social, and embodied affect—revealing a dominant focus on calming and stress-related interventions. Vibrotactile feedback on wearable-friendly areas such as the wrist and forearm was most common, while thermal, pressure, and stroking-based modalities are emerging. Cross-dimensional mapping shows that haptic modality, body placement, and intervention mechanism jointly shape affective outcomes, emphasizing embodied physiological regulation and interpersonal connection as key pathways for affective modulation, as well as future directions involving multi-user interactions. By synthesizing current findings, this work offers a structured framework to guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of affective wearable haptic interventions across diverse application contexts.