How VR helps students with autism practice social interaction
Virtual reality may finally be having a moment, at least for one community.
A group of students from Kent Career Technical Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has created a VR experience that aims to help students with autism practice social interaction.
It's far from a finished product, but was polished enough to make it to the final round of Samsung's nationwide Solve for Tomorrow invention competition last month.
SEE ALSO:Sesame Place is world's first theme park designated as a Certified Autism CenterThe app places students in various social situations in VR -- the hallway, the classroom, interactions with friends, teachers, and students. Students are given options for how to respond to various situations, and can "practice" the interactions in VR. The kids developed the scripts and scenarios in consultation with autistic students and behavioral psychologists.
For example, you can practice meeting new students in the hallway, study in the library, and respond to teacher questions in a classroom. In one classroom scenario, a student next to me was having computer troubles, and I was tasked with deciding whether to try to help her fix it myself or alert the teacher.
Marc Pletz II, a teacher at KCTC, told me that the students may, in the future, add scenarios outside of school. For example, they may add a TSA security checkpoint, where students practice not only interacting with TSA officials, but taking off their shoes and jackets and emptying their pockets.
The intention is that students can practice these scenarios, and different ways they may unfold, so they're more prepared when the real thing comes up. The app may also include a 2D storyboard version of each scenario -- something to refer to during social interactions.
Social stories, "choose-your-own-adventure" activities in which students with autism are asked to practice social situations, are nothing new.
An college student, who is autistic and thus spoke anonymously fearing social repercussions, told me that he grew up practicing social stories with teachers and in textbooks. "But I always had serious trouble paying attention to that stuff, and a lot of autistic kids do," he told me.
"A VR app, where it's really immersive with fewer distractions, would have been great for someone like me."
Credit: kent career technical centerThat's essentially what the students are going for: to turn what could be a boring classroom experience into one more fun, engaging, and kinesthetic.
"You feel like you're actually there," said J’lon Johnson, one of the student developers. "It’s the difference between someone seeing someone else do something and learning it that way, and having you be the one that it happens to and doing it yourself."
A script, developed by a behavioral expert, that KCTC students are converting into a VR experience.Credit: kctcIt's no secret that VR is a struggling medium. But even if the tech isn't catching on in entertainment or gaming doesn't mean it's useless. In a classroom, the technology can do what textbooks can't -- deliver actual experience.
These students don't have a "full" app yet. The animation isn't yet market-quality, and the options for scenarios are (for the moment) limited.
But it's easy to see how the tech can make a difference to an often overlooked community, and that's what's important here. It's exciting to see ways in which virtual reality could make a difference in students' lives. And it's even more exciting to see the next generation playing the part of creator.
Featured Video For You
Netflix's 'Atypical' attempts to tackle what dating could be like for an autistic teen
-
Scientists detect water sloshing on Mars. There could be a lot.揭阳桂岭教育加速“奔跑”!“组团式”教育帮扶携手筑梦以数据要素乘数效应助力现代农业!“数据要素×”三年行动计划发布我在广西融水有个“园”!庭院经济让方寸地变致富园Speeding space object triggered a warning. It wasn't an asteroid.石棉县七一中学 扎实开展“党建带团建”工作品牌建设实地特训!华南理工大学组织“头雁”惠州研学行展示艺术教育成果 丰富校园文化生活25 Years Later: A Brief Analysis of GPU Processing Efficiency名山区实验小学将茶文化植根于孩子心田
- ·The Apple iPod: Pocket Music Before That Phone
- ·群众需求在哪里 文明实践推行到哪里
- ·以“归零”心态 持续抓好安全生产工作
- ·地震来袭临危不惧 师生有序安全撤离
- ·It's Unnecessary But, AMD Is Basically Lying About CPU Performance
- ·扎实做好“就地解决”文章 深入推进基层社会治理 更好地服务发展服务群众
- ·茂名占鳌头,但榜眼与探花让人意想不到丨“市委书记抓乡村振兴”2023年度盘点①
- ·发挥人社力量 助力茶叶采摘
- ·NASA says Earth just had the hottest day ever recorded
- ·深汕向你发起美食共享!盐甜兼备击中味蕾
- ·最高检明确:重点办理八项涉农领域公益诉讼案件
- ·寻味暖冬,品一碗让人着迷的糯米醪糟
- ·Wordle today: The answer and hints for August 29
- ·万亩园亩万元 饱肚子挣票子
- ·群众需求在哪里 文明实践推行到哪里
- ·东莞常平镇积极推进“四小园”建设,点亮乡村美丽幸福新篇章
- ·This shark lives for centuries. Scientists discover how it resists aging.
- ·全国供销系统齐聚湾区,擘画东西部协作蓝图
- ·村里来了“CEO”,助力江门新型农村集体经济“加速跑”
- ·高全利:养猪业最大的灾难是管理低效!警惕这八大误区
- ·全国土壤普查办抽验组到广东开展土壤普查质量抽验
- ·2022年蒙顶山茶区第一背篓茶上市
- ·海洋牧场游出“好年鱼”!海威年鱼礼领“鲜”发布,“性价比”十足!
- ·粤喀农业科技科普交流启动!罗锡文院士线上开讲“第一课”
- ·Norris stuns Verstappen at Dutch GP
- ·防控再升级 筑牢防护墙