Abstract
Since ’90s the use of ICT tools has been considered very promising in treatments of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experiencing difficulties in social communication and interaction. Recent literature agrees on potential benefits of Virtual Reality based treatment, particularly in learning processes related to social interaction. The study in this paper describes a usability experience of people with ASD in using Oculus Rift and HoloLens, state-of-the-art Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) allowing users to experience Immersive Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality, respectively. The study focuses on a homogenous target of high-functioning young adults (age 21–23) and aims at evaluating acceptability, usability, and engagement of the two HMDs with respect to such target andproviding general guidelines about applications of the two HMDs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
TetaLab (Technology-Enhanced Treatment for Autism Laboratory) is a laboratory of the University of L’Aquila, based on the cooperation among the Dept. of Information Engineering, Computer Science & Mathematics, the Dept. of Applied Clinical Sciences & Biotechnology, and the University Center for Autism.
References
American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-V. American Psychiatric Publishing, Arlington (2013)
Brown, E., Cairns, P.: A grounded investigation of game immersion. In: CHI 2004 Extended Abstracts on HF in CS (CHI EA 2004), pp. 1297–1300. ACM, New York (2004)
Cofini, V., Di Giacomo, D., Di Mascio, T., Necozione, S., Vittorini, P.: Evaluation plan of TERENCE: when the user-centred design meets the evidence-based approach. In: Vittorini, P., et al. (eds.) International Workshop on EBUTEL. Advances in Intelligent and Soft Computing, vol 152. Springer, Heidelberg (2012)
Cole, J., Crowle, S., Austwick, G., Slater, D.H.: Exploratory findings with VR for phantom limb pain: from stump motion to agency and analgesia. Disabil. Rehabil. 31(10), 846–854 (2009)
Coman, L., Richardson, J.: Relationship between self-report and performance measures of function: a systematic review. J. Aging 25(3), 253–270 (2006)
De Gasperis, G., Mantini, S., Cordisco, A.: The virtual reconstruction project of unavailable monuments: the Church of Santa Maria Paganica in L’Aquila. In: Proceedings of Workshops at the 13th International Conference on Information Theory, pp. 31–33. Springer, Cham (2017)
Fletcher-Watson, S., McConnell, F., Manola, E., McConachie, H.: Interventions based on the Theory of Mind cognitive model for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. 21(3) (2014)
Garzotto, F., Gelsomini, M., Occhiuto, D., Matarazzo, V., Messina, N.: Wearable immersive VR for children with disability: a case study. In: Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC 2017), pp. 478–483. ACM, New York (2017)
Lahiri, U., Bekele, E., Dohrmann, E., Warren, Z., Sarkar, N.: A physiologically informed virtual reality based social communication system for individuals with autism. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 45(4), 919–931 (2015)
Maskey, M., Lowry, J., Rodgers, H., McConachie, H., Parr, J.R.: Reducing specific phobia/fear in young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) through a virtual reality environment intervention. PLoS One 9(7) (2014)
Mesa-Gresa, P., Gil-Gómez, H., Lozano-Quilis, J.A., Gil-Gómez, J.A.: Effectiveness of virtual reality for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: an evidence-based systematic review. Sensors 18, 24–86 (2018)
Microsoft: Microsoft HoloLens Health and Safety (2017). https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/hololens/legal/health-and-safety-information. Accessed 19 Jan 2018
Miller, H.L., Bugnariu, N.L.: Level of immersion in VEs impacts the ability to assess and teach social skills in ASD. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 19(4), 246–256 (2016)
Mitchell, P., Parsons, S., Leonard, A.: Using virtual environments for teaching social understanding to 6 adolescents with ASD. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 37(3), 589–600 (2007)
Newbutt, N., Sung, C., Kuo, H.J., Leahy, M.J., Lin, C.C., Tong, B.: Brief report: a pilot study of the use of a VR headset in ASD. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 46(9), 3166–3176 (2006)
OculusVR: Oculus Rift Health and Safety (2018). Accessed 19 Jan 2018
Parsons, S., Cobb, S.: State-of-the art of virtual reality technologies for children on the autism spectrum. Eur. J. Spec. Needs Educ. 26(3), 355–366 (2011)
Pearl, A.M., Edwards, E.M., Murray, M.J.: Comparison of self-and other-report of symptoms of autism and comorbid psychopathology in adults with autism spectrum disorder. Contemp. Behav. Health Care 2(1), 1–8 (2016). https://doi.org/10.15761/CBHC.1000120
Pino, M.C., Mazza, M.: The use of “Literary Fiction” to promote mentalizing ability. PLoS One 11(8), e0160254 (2016)
Ragan, E.D., Sowndararajan, A., Kopper, R., Bowman, D.A.: The effects of higher levels of immersion on procedure memorization performance and implications for educational virtual environments. Presence (Camb.) 19(6), 527–543 (2016)
Strickland, D.C., Marcus, L.M., Mesibov, G.B., Hogan, K.: Brief report: two case studies using VR as a learning tool for ASD. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 26(6), 651–659 (1996)
Usability.gov: Improving the User Experience (2018). Accessed 19 Jan 2018
Tarantino, L., Mazza, M., Valenti, M., De Gasperis, G.: Towards an integrated approach to diagnosis, assessment and treatment in autism spectrum disorders via a gamified TEL system. In: MIS4TEL, pp. 141–149. Springer, Cham (2016)
Waller, D., Hunt, E., Knapp, D.: The transfer of spatial knowledge in virtual environment training. Presence (Camb.) 7(2), 129–143 (1998)
Walshe, C., Ewing, G., Griffiths, J.: Using observation as a data collection method to help understand patient and professional roles and actions in palliative care settings. Palliat. Med. 26(8), 1048–1054 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216311432897
Wechsler, D.: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 4th edn. Pearson, San Antonio (2008)
Acknowledgment
Authors wish to thank TetaLab people for the fruitful cooperation throughout the study, and Microsoft Italia for their support during the Microsoft sessions in Milan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Di Mascio, T., Tarantino, L., De Gasperis, G., Pino, C. (2020). Immersive Virtual Environments: A Comparison of Mixed Reality and Virtual Reality Headsets for ASD Treatment. In: Gennari, R., et al. Methodologies and Intelligent Systems for Technology Enhanced Learning, 9th International Conference. MIS4TEL 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1007 . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23990-9_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23990-9_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-23989-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-23990-9
eBook Packages: Intelligent Technologies and RoboticsIntelligent Technologies and Robotics (R0)