eXtended Reality for Autism Interventions: The importance of Mediation and Sensory-Based Approaches

TL;DR

This paper explores how extended reality technologies can be tailored for autism interventions by aligning research with practitioners' needs, emphasizing sensory and mediation approaches to support the entire spectrum.

Contribution

It bridges the gap between XR autism research and practical interventions by analyzing stakeholder needs and proposing design guidelines for effective XR use.

Findings

Collaborative XR sensory-based approaches benefit the entire autism spectrum.

Designing XR protocols requires considering the overall intervention context.

Stakeholder insights inform practical XR application in autism interventions.

Abstract

eXtended Reality (XR) autism research, ranging from Augmented Reality to Virtual Reality, focuses on socio-emotional abilities and high-functioning autism. However common autism interventions address the entire spectrum over social, sensory and mediation issues. To bridge the gap between autism research and real interventions, we compared existing literature on XR and autism with stakeholders' needs obtained by interviewing 34 skateholders, mainly practitioners. It allow us first to suggest XR use cases that could better support practitioners' interventions, and second to derive design guidelines accordingly. Findings demonstrate that collaborative XR sensory-based and mediation approaches would benefit the entire spectrum, and encourage to consider the overall intervention context when designing XR protocols.