UniSA Justice and Society, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2024 Dec;68(12):1358-1373. doi: 10.1111/jir.13177. Epub 2024 Aug 21.
People with intellectual disability (ID) demonstrate persistent challenges around developing life skills. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) is gaining interest as a tool for training life skills as it enables individuals to engage in hands-on learning in a safe, controlled and repeatable environment. However, there are concerns about the potential drawbacks of IVR, such as cybersickness and practical challenges with using the equipment, which may hinder its widespread adoption in educational settings. The current study aimed to compare the effectiveness of training in IVR and a non-immersive virtual environment for improving real-world skills in people with ID.
In the present study, 36 adults (16 female, 20 male) with ID were recruited from a disability organisation. Participants completed a real-world assessment of waste management skills before and after training in either the IVR or non-immersive group.
Consistent with our hypotheses, the IVR group scored significantly higher in the real-world assessment after virtual training (d = 1), and at the 1-week follow-up (d = 1.12), compared with the non-immersive group. Further analyses showed that the IVR group, but not the non-immersive group, significantly improved performance in the real-world assessment across timepoints.
The findings indicate that IVR was more effective for improving and retaining real-world waste management skills. This study supports IVR as a viable tool for professionals and caregivers to develop skills for independent living among people with ID.
智障人士（ID）在发展生活技能方面一直面临挑战。沉浸式虚拟现实（IVR）作为一种培训生活技能的工具越来越受到关注，因为它使个体能够在安全、可控和可重复的环境中进行实践学习。然而，人们对 IVR 的潜在缺点存在担忧，例如网络眩晕和使用设备的实际挑战，这可能会阻碍其在教育环境中的广泛应用。本研究旨在比较 IVR 和非沉浸式虚拟环境在提高智障人士现实世界技能方面的有效性。
本研究从一家残疾组织招募了 36 名 ID 成人（16 名女性，20 名男性）。参与者在 IVR 或非沉浸式组中完成了废物管理技能的现实世界评估，然后在培训前后进行评估。
与我们的假设一致，与非沉浸式组相比，IVR 组在虚拟培训后的现实世界评估中得分显著更高（d=1），且在 1 周随访时（d=1.12）得分更高。进一步的分析表明，IVR 组而非非沉浸式组在整个时间点上的现实世界评估中显著提高了表现。
研究结果表明，IVR 更有助于提高和保持现实世界中的废物管理技能。本研究支持 IVR 作为专业人士和护理人员在 ID 人群中发展独立生活技能的可行工具。
