Abstract

This study explored the feasibility and social validity of teenagers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using a virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). VR is emerging as a promising tool for teaching and therapeutic intervention among ASD. Therefore, this study serves to contribute to the field's development by comprehensively evaluating the accessibility for young people with ASD to independently using a VR HMD in a meaningful way. Five teenagers participated (four female, aged 13-15, with mild and mild to moderate support needs) and independently completed tutorials in a virtual environment when learning to operate the VR HMD controllers and hand-tracking interfaces. Then moved on to complete four discrete motor tasks, alternating between the two interfaces following an ABAB experimental design. The participants' performances were measured by latency (time in seconds taken to complete the instructed motor task) and the number of errors made per trial. Group-level analysis consistently demonstrated significantly faster completion times, with fewer errors, when the participants executed motor tasks using controllers. Nonetheless, the findings reported in this study demonstrate that teenagers with ASD can successfully operate a VR HMD using multiple interfaces. The phases in the hand-tracking condition demonstrated repeated downward trends and reduced variability in task performances across trials. Those participating in this study unanimously expressed a preference for engaging with the VR HMD using its controllers, for their accurate and predictable performance. These findings affirm VR HMD's to be an accessible modality for delivering interventions in VR, particularly when the controllers are provided, as comparatively, the technical difficulties experience when using the hand-tracking interface mediated the quality of the VR experience by adversely effected the participants' feel of autonomy.

Degree

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Counseling Psychology and Special Education

Rights

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