Smart Wearables for Human Augmentation: A Systematic Review

Smart wearables have evolved from merely data storage tools to patterns that closely interact with our bodies, brains, and emotions, aiming to enhance human capabilities. This paper systematically examined the approaches by which smart wearables enhance human capabilities via integrating concepts from materials science, cybernetics, and other diverse fields. Additionally, a hierarchical framework was built by linking physiological, cognitive, and emotional domains with the tailored material structures, sensing and interaction architectures. Four core development paths were identified: moving from simple human–machine collaboration to interdependent coexistence between them; incorporating sensor technologies with soft robotics to boost human perception and locomotor functions; transforming from only performance improvement to human–machine co-creation; and addressing ethical and environmental challenges including data management, equitable access and environmental protection. Apart from that, this study further pinpoints that smart wearables will evolve in a spiral manner driven by the interplay of materials, technology, and design, slowly progressing from passive sensing to active empowerment. In future, the research of wearables is not only about developing more “intelligent” products, but also about constructing an intelligent technological system that balances efficiency & empathy, intelligence & ethical responsibility, and innovation & ecological awareness. From this point of view, smart wearables are a manifestation of technological advancement and a carrier of cultural evolution, which will propel the continuous evolution of the human–machine connection paradigm through human-centered and sustainable design.