Virtual and augmented reality in social skills interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A scoping review

In the last decade, there has been an increase in publications on technology-based interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Virtual reality based assessments and intervention tools are promising and have shown to be acceptable amongst individuals with ASD. This scoping review reports on 49 studies utilizing virtual reality and augmented reality technology in social skills interventions for individuals with ASD. The included studies mostly targeted children and adolescents, but few targeted very young children or adults. Our findings show that the mode number of participants with ASD is low, and that female participants are underrepresented. Our review suggests that there is need for studies that apply virtual and augmented realty with more rigorous designs involving established and evidenced-based intervention strategies.publishedVersio

SELF-IMAGE MULTIMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES FOR FEEDFORWARD OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

This dissertation investigates the development and use of self-images in augmented reality systems for learning and learning-based activities. This work focuses on self- modeling, a particular form of learning, actively employed in various settings for therapy or teaching. In particular, this work aims to develop novel multimedia systems to support the display and rendering of augmented self-images. It aims to use interactivity (via games) as a means of obtaining imagery for use in creating augmented self-images. Two multimedia systems are developed, discussed and analyzed. The proposed systems are validated in terms of their technical innovation and their clinical efficacy in delivering behavioral interventions for young children on the autism spectrum

Exploring the impact of augmented reality in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a systematic review

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by persistent difficulties in communication and social interaction along with a restriction in interests and the presence of repetitive behaviors. The development and use of augmented reality technology for autism has increased in recent years. However, little is known about the impact of these virtual reality technologies on clinical health symptoms. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the impact of augmented reality through social, cognitive, and behavioral domains in children and adolescents with autism. This study is the first contribution that has carried out an evidence-based systematic review including relevant science databases about the effectiveness of augmented reality-based intervention in ASD. The initial search identified a total of 387 records. After the exclusion of papers that are not research studies and are duplicated articles and after screening the abstract and full text, 20 articles were selected for analysis. The studies examined suggest promising findings about the effectiveness of augmented reality-based treatments for the promotion, support, and protection of health and wellbeing in children and adolescents with autism. Finally, possible directions for future work are discussed.Psicologí

The Effect of Augmented Reality on the Development of Social Skills of Children with Autism

The use of new technologies in the process of educational intervention is undoubtedly a basic and valuable tool for teachers Specifically using new forms of representation of educational content and providing a teaching practice that enhances the user s visual perception of the real environment is a key factor favoring the educational inclusion of students with special educational needs In the present study we will investigate whether teachers believe that the use of augmented reality AR in children with autism affects their social skills as well as the possibilities of augmented reality in enhancing the communication skills of children with ASD in areas speech social interaction pretend play reading enhancing visual perception imitative ability attention management and perception of the physical worl

Virtual reality and naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder

© 2021 The Author(s).Background: Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBI) have been evaluated as the most promising interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder. In recent years, a growing body of literature suggests that technological advancements such as Virtual Reality (VR) are promising intervention tools. However, to the best of our knowledge no studies have combined evidence-based practice with such tools. Aim: This article aims to review the current literature combining NDBI and VR, and provide suggestions on merging NDBI-approaches with VR. Methods: This article is divided into two parts, where we first conduct a review mapping the research applying NDBI-approaches in VR. In the second part we argue how to apply the common features of NDBI into VR-technology. Results: Our findings show that no VR-studies explicitly rely on NDBI-approaches, but some utilize elements in their interventions that are considered to be common features to NDBI. Conclusions and implications: As the results show, to date, no VR-based studies have utilized NDBI in their intervention. We therefore, in the second part of this article, suggests ways to merge VR and NDBI and introduce the term Virtual Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (VNDBI). VNDBI is an innovative way of implementing NDBI which will contribute in making interventions more accessible in central as well as remote locations, while reducing unwanted variation between service sites. VNDBI will advance the possibilities of individually tailoring and widen the area of interventions. In addition, VNDBI can provide the field with new knowledge on effective components enhancing the accuracy in the intervention packages and thus move forward the research field and clinical practice.publishedVersio

Virtual Reality as a Support Tool for the Treatment of People with Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities: A Systematic Literature Review

Since the emergence of virtual reality (VR) technologies, many researchers have argued on the benefits of their use for people with intellectual and multiple disabilities. However, up to this date there is not a single study that presents a detailed overview of the state of the art in virtual reality as a support tool for the treatment of people with intellectual and multiple disabilities, as well as Autism and Down Syndrome. The aim of this study is to provide a detailed overview of the state of the art in the virtual reality area focusing on people with multiple disabilities, that encompasses intellectual and physical disabilities. There is still no consensus on the effectiveness of VR-based treatments. Virtual reality can offer rich environment and features, but most of the researches focuses only in the experience to be inside a virtual place without taking advantage of what benefits VR provide us. Furthermore, most of our selected studies used non-immersive VR and AR. Thus, immersive VR is an open field with many opportunities to be explored. We believe VR has great potential to be effective in the treatment of people with intellectual and multiple disabilities

Augmented Interaction Systems for Supporting Autistic Children. Evolution of a Multichannel Expressive Tool: The SEMI Project Feasibility Study

International audienceBackground: Over the past ten years, the authors have been designing, developing, and testing pervasive technology to support children with autism (ASD). Methods: In the present study, an integrated system based on multimedia and augmented interaction technologies have been tested on young subjects with ASD and dyspraxia in the age range of 6-10 years, in charge for rehabilitation treatments; a team of clinical psychologists has analyzed the results of the experimentation. The ten children involved in the project underwent an initial assessment of praxis skills and motor coordination. Subsequently, the subjects were subdivided into two subgroups: five children participated in the experimentation and five were evaluated as the control group (treatment as usual). Results: The evaluation showed an increased score in the several aspects considered, and particularly those related to motor coordination. An improvement in balancing tests and in hands-movement testing was found. Conclusion: The children involved in the sessions showed greater ability to self-control the movement as well as to select specific motor areas. The methods used seem to be promising to improve emotional and social skills too in a motivating and enjoyable climate. A high level of acceptance by professionals was observed and parents' feedback was also positive

Effect of sensory-based technologies on atypical sensory responses of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A systematic review

© 2021 ACM, Inc. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1145/3485768.3485782.Atypical sensory responses are one of the most common issues observed in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), affecting the development of a child's capability for social interaction, independent living and learning. In the past two decades, there has been a growing number of studies of technology-based interventions for atypical sensory responses of individuals with ASD. However, their effects and limitations have not been fully examined. This systematic review investigates the effects of sensory-based technologies (SBTs) on atypical sensory responses of children with ASD. Publications that report on the use of a SBT as an intervention tool were retrieved from four academic databases: “PubMed”, “IEEE Xplore”, “ACM Digital Library” and “Web of Science”. The search finally yielded 18 articles. The results indicated an emerging trend of studies investigating the effects of SBTs on atypical sensory responses over the past decade. Challenges and limitations were found in studies, mainly because the literatures adopted different methods and indicators, small sample sizes, and varying experimental designs. Findings were that the use of SBTs could effectively improve auditory and visual recognition, and some other behavioural outcomes such as attention in children with ASD. Future development of SBTs could further integrate more advanced techniques, such as machine learning, in order to widen the scope of SBTs usage to help more ASD children

Effectiveness of Virtual Reality for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Evidence-Based Systematic Review

[EN] Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disease that is specially characterized by impairments in social communication and social skills. ASD has a high prevalence in children, affecting 1 in 160 subjects. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as an effective tool for intervention in the health field. Different recent papers have reviewed the VR-based treatments in ASD, but they have an important limitation because they only use clinical databases and do not include important technical indexes such as the Web of Science index or the Scimago Journal & Country Rank. To our knowledge, this is the first contribution that has carried out an evidence-based systematic review including both clinical and technical databases about the effectiveness of VR-based intervention in ASD. The initial search identified a total of 450 records. After the exclusion of the papers that are not studies, duplicated articles, and the screening of the abstract and full text, 31 articles met the PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison and Outcomes) criteria and were selected for analysis. The studies examined suggest moderate evidence about the effectiveness of VR-based treatments in ASD. VR can add many advantages to the treatment of ASD symptomatology, but it is necessary to develop consistent validations in future studies to state that VR can effectively complement the traditional treatments.Mesa Gresa, P.; Gil Gómez, H.; Lozano Quilis, JA.; Gil-Gómez, J. (2018). Effectiveness of Virtual Reality for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Evidence-Based Systematic Review. Sensors. 18(8):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18082486S115188World Health Organizationhttp://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/autism-spectrum-disordersColombi, C., & Ghaziuddin, M. (2017). 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