Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

6-2026

Abstract

Earable devices, wearables positioned in or around the ear, are undergoing a rapid transformation from audio-centric accessories into multifunctional systems for interaction, contextual awareness, and health monitoring. This evolution is driven by commercial trends emphasizing sensor integration and by a surge of academic interest exploring novel sensing capabilities. Building on the foundation established by earlier surveys, this work presents a timely and comprehensive review of earable research published since 2022. We attempt to answer three core questions: (1) how has earable research evolved in recent years, (2) what enabling resources are now available, and (3) what opportunities remain for future exploration. For question (1), we analyze over one hundred recent studies to characterize this shifting research landscape, by identifying emerging sensing principles / applications, and efforts to improve accuracy and reliability over prior works. For question (2), we summarize new public datasets and hardware platforms that can be leveraged to facilitate future earable research. Finally, for question (3), we discuss open challenges and propose future directions for the next phase of earable research.

Keywords

Earables, Sensing, Health Monitoring, Interactions, Activity, User Authentication

Discipline

Health Information Technology

Publication

Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies

Volume

10

Issue

2

First Page

1

Last Page

41

ISSN

2474-9567

Identifier

10.1145/3810217

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1145/3810217

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