A Descriptive Analysis of a Formative Decade of Research in Affective Haptic System Design

The global pandemic exposed serious drawbacks in relying on communication modalities in which social touch, however important, is absent. Considerable research has explored haptic technologies for sensing or displaying social touch and influencing affective state, for wellness, social communication, emotion regulation, and affect therapy. However, this Affective Haptic System design (AHSD) work varies widely in purpose and origin discipline, making it difficult to perceive overall progress and identify primary obstacles to practical deployment. We conducted a scoping review and conceptual analysis with a design lens, identifying 110 papers from the last decade in 11 ACM and IEEE venues that regularly attract AHSD work. Our analysis identified 38 dimensions within 8 facets: demographic, theoretical grounding, impact, system specification, usage specification, ethical consideration, technology, and evaluation. We visualize trends, disciplinary mixing, and topical focus over time, and highlight major advances while pinning down crucial gaps that can be addressed in the future.