Emotional Haptic Watch
The emotional haptic watch is a wearable device that one can wear on their wrist at all
times, like a smartwatch, but aside from telling time and detecting a person’s heart rate and skin
temperature through biosensors, it can alert the person wearing the watch whenever it detects
heightened stress levels, anxiety, or emotional dysregulation from the person wearing the watch.
In addition, the watch provides soothing vibrations or pulses that could help calm the person,
allowing them to regulate their emotions by the calming vibrations that the watch can give off.
Tactile stimuli like vibrations are proven to be effective in calming the nervous system by
activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which induces a calming effect by reducing the
heart rate and blood pressure of a person (Smith et al., 2020). These stimuli are especially useful
for managing stress and anxiety as they offer immediate, soothing feedback during emotional
dysregulation, which provides individuals with awareness on their emotional state and regulating
them in real-time (Biel et al., 2022). Based on this finding, the research integrates this to the
proposed product by adding haptic feedback to help the person regulate their emotions during
stressful situations.
A study conducted by Ramirez et al. (2023) delves on the increasing use of wearable
devices for stress management. In their study, they found that wearable technologies like smart
watches and smart bands are effective devices for stress reduction as they are designed to selfregulate users during stress episodes, support self-regulation therapies for long-term goals, and
provide stress awareness for stress prevention. Additionally, Gedam & Paul (2021) also supported
this by providing data on the importance of mobile technology as a suitable alternative to
monitoring early stress manifestations and providing interventions of stress episodes anywhere
and anytime.
Feasibility Analysis
The emotional haptic watch is highly feasible since the availability of the required
components in developing the watch is readily available in the school laboratory, and in online
shops, as well. First, the researchers can make use of existing smart watches for the project, which
allows them to focus on integrating haptic feedback technology without the need to create a watch
with expensive hardware from scratch. In making the haptic feedback, the researchers can source
out small vibration motors, which are found in smartphones and other portable technologies. These
vibration motors can be programmed by the researchers to produce vibration patterns and
intensities, allowing them to create a personalized haptic feedback based on the emotional state of
the person wearing the watch.
References:
Biel, L., Gil, E., & Fergal, C. (2022). The role of tactile feedback in emotion regulation. Emotion
Review, 12(4), 345-355.
González Ramírez, M. L., García Vázquez, J. P., Rodríguez, M. D., Padilla-López, L. A., GalindoAldana, G. M., & Cuevas-González, D. (2023, August). Wearables for Stress Management:
A Scoping Review. In Healthcare (Vol. 11, No. 17, p. 2369). MDPI.
Gedam, S., & Paul, S. (2021). A review on mental stress detection using wearable sensors and
machine learning techniques. IEEE Access, 9, 84045-84066.
Smith, E. N., Santoro, E., Moraveji, N., Susi, M., & Crum, A. J. (2020). Integrating wearables in
stress
management
interventions:
Promising
evidence
from
a
randomized
trial. International Journal of Stress Management, 27(2), 172.
Other suggestions:

Haptic Stress Ball – The ball changes shape when squeezed, like it massages the hands to
reduce stress. This one is also inspired by the picture below

Haptic Vest (?) or Parang Stress Regulating Vestor Pwedeng Neck Pillow na kapag nakakadetect ng fast heartbeat ay i-mamassage niya ang person to reduce the stress parang ganito: