Soltiyeva Aiganym, Oliveira Wilk, Madina Alimanova, Adilkhan Shyngys, Urmanov Marat, Hamari Juho
Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Suleyman Demirel University, Kaskelen, Kazakhstan.
Gamification Group, Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
Educ Inf Technol (Dordr). 2023 May 20:1-21. doi: 10.1007/s10639-023-11862-x.
One of the biggest difficulties faced by children with Autism Spectrum Disorder during their learning process and general life, is communication and social interaction. In recent years, researchers and practitioners have invested in different approaches to improving aspects of their communication and learning. However, there is still no consolidated approach and the community is still looking for new approaches that can meet this need. Addressing this challenge, in this article we propose a novelty approach (i.e., an Adaptive Immersive Virtual Reality Training System), aiming to enrich social interaction and communication skills for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In this adaptive system (called My Lovely Granny's Farm), the behavior of the virtual trainer changes depending on the mood and actions of the users (i.e., patients/learners). Additionally, we conducted an initial observational study by monitoring the behavior of children with autism in a virtual environment. In the initial study, the system was offered to users with a high degree of interactivity so that they might practice various social situations in a safe and controlled environment. The results demonstrate that the use of the system can allow patients who needed treatment to receive therapy without leaving home. Our approach is the first experience of treating children with autism in Kazakhstan and can contribute to improving the communication and social interaction of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We contribute to the community of educational technologies and mental health by providing a system that can improve communication among children with autism and providing insights on how to design this kind of system.
自闭症谱系障碍儿童在学习过程和日常生活中面临的最大困难之一是沟通和社交互动。近年来，研究人员和从业者投入了不同的方法来改善他们沟通和学习的各个方面。然而，仍然没有一种统一的方法，该领域仍在寻找能够满足这一需求的新方法。为应对这一挑战，在本文中我们提出了一种新颖的方法（即自适应沉浸式虚拟现实训练系统），旨在丰富自闭症谱系障碍儿童的社交互动和沟通技能。在这个自适应系统（名为“我可爱的奶奶的农场”）中，虚拟训练师的行为会根据用户（即患者/学习者）的情绪和行为而变化。此外，我们通过监测自闭症儿童在虚拟环境中的行为进行了初步观察研究。在初步研究中，该系统以高度的交互性提供给用户，以便他们可以在安全可控的环境中练习各种社交场景。结果表明，使用该系统可以让需要治疗的患者足不出户接受治疗。我们的方法是哈萨克斯坦治疗自闭症儿童的首次尝试，有助于改善自闭症谱系障碍儿童的沟通和社交互动。我们通过提供一个能够改善自闭症儿童沟通的系统，并就如何设计这种系统提供见解，为教育技术和心理健康领域做出了贡献。
