Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The application of immersive virtual reality for students with ASD: A review between 1990–2017

  • Published:
Education and Information Technologies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We live in a society where Technology has an important position in our diary activities. Everybody wants to have the last device to be in contact with his family and friends. Additionally, these took are being applied in other fields such as Education. One of these tools is: Virtual reality that can respond the need of our students. It allows the designer an important control of the system that can be useful for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. These students can use Virtual Reality as a support to practice social situation that can be generalized in real environments. Therefore, our research provides a state-of-the-art review of what studies have applied Immersive Virtual Reality to students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The sample of study has been 12 papers in the period 1996–2017. To analyse these research, it has been proposed these variables: participants’ features, research questions, instrument, type of activities, results, and limitations. These study variables have been chosen because they are the most repeated in all research using the experimental method. According to the results gathered: it has been worked with small sample, without control group and interactive activities. Moreover, the vast majority of the studies are focused on social skills.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Baileson, J., Patel, K., Nielsen, A., Bajascy, R., Jung, S., & Kurillo, G. (2008). The effect of interactivity on learning physical actions in virtual reality. Media Psychology, 11(1), 354–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S. (1995). Mindblindness: An essay on autism and theory of mind. Boston: MIT Press/Bradford Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S. (2000). Theory of mind and autism: A fifteen year review. In S. Baron-Cohen, H. Tager-Flusberg, & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Understanding other minds. Perspectives from developmental cognitive neuroscience (pp. 3–21). Oxford: University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S. (2002). The extreme male brain theory of autism. Trends in Cognitive Science, 6(6), 248–254. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(02)01904-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S. (2008). Autism, hypersystemizing, and truth. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 61(1), 64–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470210701508749.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S., Richler, J., Bisarya, D., Gurunathan, N., & Wheelwright, S. (2003). The systemizing quotient: An investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism, and normal sex differences. In U. Frith & E. Hill (Eds.), Autism: Mind and brain (pp. 161–186). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beach, J., & Wendt, J. (2014). Social interaction development through immersive virtual environments. In Proceedings of the international conference on education technologies and computers (pp. 1–8). Lodz, Poland: Lodz University of Technology.

  • Blascovich, J., Loomis, J., Beall, A. C., Swinth, K. R., Hoyt, C. L., & Bailenson, J. N. (2002). Immersive virtual environment technology as a tool for social psychology. Psychological Inquiry, 13(2), 103–124. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200735.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cai, Y., Chia, N., Thalman, D., Kee, N., Zheng, J., & Thalmann, N. (2013). Design and development of virtual Dolphinarium for children with autism. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 21(2), 208–2017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cassidy, S., Mitchell, P., Chapman, P., & Ropar, D. (2015). Processing of spontaneous emotional responses in adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders: Effect of stimulus type. Autism Research, 8(5), 534–544. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, S., & Bernard-Opitz, V. (1993). Comparison of personal and computer-assisted instruction for children with autism. Journal of Mental Retardation, 31(1), 368–376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, Y., Huang, C., & Yang, C. (2015). Using a 3D immersive virtual environment system to enhance social understanding and social skills for children with autism spectrum disorders. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 30(4), 222–236. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088357615583473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dautenhahn, K. (2000). Design issues on interactive environments for Children with autism. In Proceedings of ICDVRAT 2000, the 3rd International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies (pp. 153–161). Reading: University of Reading.

  • Didehbani, N., Allen, T., Kandalaft, M., Krawczyk, D., & Chapman, S. (2016). Virtual reality social cognition training for children with high functioning autism. Computers in Human Behavior, 62(1), 703–711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.04.033.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiGennaro, F., Hyman, S., & Hirst, J. (2011). Applications of technology to teach social skills to children with autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5(1), 1003–1010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2011.01.022.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elo, S., & Kyngäs, H. (2008). The qualitative content analysis process. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 62(1), 107–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, M. (2008). Enhancing and accelerating the pace of autism research and treatment: The promise of developing innovative technology. Focus on Autism and other developmental Disabilities, 23(2), 125–128. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088357608316678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernandez, N., Metzger, A., Magn_e, R., Bonnet-Brilhault, F., Roux, S., Barthelemy, C., et al. (2009). Exploration of core features of a human face by healthy and stic adults analyzed by visual scanning. Neuropsychologia, 47, 1004–1012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.10.023.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, I. M., Gower, M. W., Perez, T. A., Smith, D. S., Amthor, F. R., Wimsatt, F. C., et al. (2011). Avatar assistant: Improving social skills in students with an ASD through a computer-based intervention. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41(1), 1543e1555. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1179-.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooper, S., Poon, K., Marcus, L., & Fine, C. (2006). Neuropsychological characteristics of school-age children with high-functioning autism: Performance on the NEPSY. Child Neuropsychology, 12(4–5), 299–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/09297040600737984

  • Horace, H., Wong, S., Chan, D., Byrne, J., Li, C., Yuan, V., Lau, K., & Wong, J. (2016). Virtual reality enable training for social adaptation in inclusive education settings for school-aged children with autism Spectrum disorders (ASD). In S. Cheung, L. Kwok, J. Shang, A. Wang, & K. Kwan (Eds.), Blended learning: Aligning theory with practices (pp. 94–102). Beijing: Springer International Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsieh, H., & Shannon, S. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarrold, W., Mundy, P., Gwaltney, M., Bailenson, J., Hatt, N., McIntyre, N., et al. (2013). Social attention in a virtual public speaking task in higher functioning children with autism. Autism Research, 6(1), 393–410. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, A., Roussos, M., Leigh, J., Vasilakis, C., Barnes, C., & Moher, T. (1998). The NICE project: learning together in a virtual world. In Proceedings of the IEEE virtual reality Annual International Symposium, (pp.176–183). Atlanta: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE).

  • Kandalaft, M. R., Didehbani, N., Krawczyk, D. C., Allen, T. T., & Chapman, S. B. (2012). Virtual reality social cognition training for young adults with high-functioning autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(9), 1544–1555. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1544-6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ke, F., & Im, T. (2013). Virtual-reality-based social interaction training for children with high-functioning autism. Journal of Educational Research, 106(1), 441–461. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2013.832999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krippendorff, K. (1980). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Kyngas, H.,& Vanhanen, L. (1999). Content analysis as a research method [Finnish]. Hoitotiede, 11, 3-12.

  • Lahiri, U., Warren, Z., & Sarkar, N. (2011). Design of a gaze-sensitive virtual social interactive system for children with autism. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 19(1), 443–452. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2011.2153874.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lessiter, J., Freeman, J., Keogh, E., & Davidoff, J. (2001). A cross-media presence questionnaire: The ITC-sense of presence inventory. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 10(1), 282–297. https://doi.org/10.1162/105474601300343612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Risi, S., Lambrecht, L., Cook, E., Leventhal, B., DiLavore, P., Pickless, A., & Rutter, M. (2000). The autism diagnostic observation schedule - generic: A standard measure of social and communication deficits associated with the spectrum of autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30(3), 205–223. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005592401947.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzo, G., Pomares, J., & Lledó, A. (2013). Inclusion of immersive virtual learning environments and visual control systems to support the learning of students with Asperger syndrome. Computers and Education, 62(1), 88–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.10.028

  • Lorenzo, G., Lledó, A., Pomares, J., & Roig, R. (2016). Design and application of an immersive virtual realityc system to enhance emotional skills for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Computers and Education, 98(1), 192–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.03.018

  • Lorenzo, G., Lledó, A., Roig, R., Pomares, J. & Arnaiz, P. (2016). Bibliometric indicators in the study of Asperger Syndrome between 1990 and 2014. Scientometrics, 109(1), 377–388

  • Matsentidou, S., & Poullis, C. (2014). Immersive visualizations in a VR cave environment for the training and enhancement of social skills for children with autism. In 9th International conference on computer vision theory and applications (pp. 230–236). New York: Springer.

  • Mineo, B. A., Ziegler, W., Gill, S., & Salkin, D. (2009). Engagement with electronic screen media among students with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(1), 172–187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0616-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, P., Parsons, S., & Leonard, A. (2007). Using virtual environments for teaching social understanding to 6 adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(3), 589–600.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, M., & Calvert, S. (2000). Brief report: Vocabulary acquisition for children with autism: Teacher or computer instruction. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30(4), 359–362. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005535602064.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nader-Grosbois, N., & Day, J. (2011). Emotional cognition: Theory of mind and face recognition. In J. L. Matson & P. Sturney (Eds.), International handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders (pp. 274–281). New York: Springer New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newbutt, N., Sung, C., Kuo, H., Leahy, M., Lin, C., & Tong, B. (2016). Brief report: A pilot study of a virtual reality headset in autism population. Journal of Autism of Developmental Disorder, 46(9), 3166–3176. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2830-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norwich, B. (2006). Categories of special education needs. In L. Florian (Ed.), The SAGE handbook of special education (pp. 55–66). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, S. (2016). Authenticity in virtual reality for assessment and intervention in autism: A conceptual review. Educational Research Review, 19, 138–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2016.08.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, S., & Mitchell, P. (2002). The potential of virtual reality in social skills training for people with autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 46(5), 430–443. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2788.2002.00425.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, S., Leonard, A., & Mitchell, P. (2006). Virtual environments for social skills training: Comments from two adolescents with autistic spectrum disorder. Computer and Education, 47(2), 186–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2004.10.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polit D. & Beck C. (2004) Nursing Research. Principles and Methods. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA.

  • Robins, B., Dautenhahn, K., Boekhorst, R., & Billard, A. (2005). Robotic assistants in therapy and education of children with autism: Can a small humanoid robot help encourage social interaction skills? Universal Access in the Information Society, 4(1), 105–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-005-0116-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosa, A., Huertas, J., & Blanco, J. (1996). Methodology of the history of psychology. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, C. & Schmidt, M. (2008) .Three-dimensional virtual learning environments for mediating social skills acquisition among individuals with autism spectrum disorders. In Proceedings of IDC ‘08 (pp. 85–88). Chicago: ACM. Digital Library.

  • Schmidt, M., Laffey, J. M., Schmidt, C. T., Wang, X., & Stichter, J. (2012). Developing methods for understanding social behavior in a 3D virtual learningenvironment. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(1), 405e413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2011.10.011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Self, T., Scudder, R. R., Weheba, G., & Crumrine, D. (2007). A virtual approach to teaching safety skills to children with autism spectrum disorder. Topics in Language Disorders, 27(1), 242–253. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.TLD.0000285358.33545.79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Standen, P., & Brown, D. (2006). Virtual reality and its role in removing the barriers that turn cognitive impairments into intellectual disability. Virtual Reality, 10(3), 241–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strickland, D. (1997). Virtual reality for the treatment of autism. In G. Riva (Ed.), Virtual reality in neuropsyco-physiology (pp. 81–86). Amsterdam: IOS Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strickland, D., Marcus, L., Mesibov, B., & Hogan, K. (1996). Brief report: Two case studies using virtual reality as a learning tool for autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26(6), 651–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terzi, L. (2005). Beyond the dilemma of difference: The capability approach to disability and special educational needs. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 39(3), 443–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tzanavari, A., Charalambous, N., Herakleous, K., & Poullis, C. (2015). Effectiveness of and immersive virtual environments (CAVE) for teaching pedestrian crossing to children with PDD-NOS. In Proceedings of 15th international conference on advanced learning technologies (pp. 423–427). Hualien: IEEE Xplore.

  • Wallace, S., Coleman, M., & Bailey, A. (2008). An investigation of basic facial expression recognition in autism spectrum disorders. Cognition and Emotion, 22(7), 1353–1380. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930701782153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, S., Parsons, S., Westbury, A., White, K., White, K., & Bailey, A. (2010). Sense of presence and atypical social judgments in immersive virtual environments response of adolescents with autistic spectrum disorder. Autism: International Journal of Research and. Practice, 14(3), 199–213. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361310363283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Development Psychology and Teaching, University of Alicante, Carretera San Vicente del Raspeig s/n - 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain

    Gonzalo Lorenzo, Asunción Lledó & Graciela Arráez-Vera

  2. Department of General and Specific Didactics, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain

    Alejandro Lorenzo-Lledó

Authors
  1. Gonzalo Lorenzo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Asunción Lledó
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Graciela Arráez-Vera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alejandro Lorenzo-Lledó
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gonzalo Lorenzo.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lorenzo, G., Lledó, A., Arráez-Vera, G. et al. The application of immersive virtual reality for students with ASD: A review between 1990–2017. Educ Inf Technol 24, 127–151 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-018-9766-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-018-9766-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation