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A Physiologically Informed Virtual Reality Based Social Communication System for Individuals with Autism

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Abstract

Clinical applications of advanced technology may hold promise for addressing impairments associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This project evaluated the application of a novel physiologically responsive virtual reality based technological system for conversation skills in a group of adolescents with ASD. The system altered components of conversation based on (1) performance alone or (2) the composite effect of performance and physiological metrics of predicted engagement (e.g., gaze pattern, pupil dilation, blink rate). Participants showed improved performance and looking pattern within the physiologically sensitive system as compared to the performance based system. This suggests that physiologically informed technologies may have the potential of being an effective tool in the hands of interventionists.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participants and their families for making this study possible. We also gratefully acknowledge National Science Foundation Grant (Grant Number 0967170) and National Institute of Health Grant (Grant Number R01 MH091102) that partially supported the research presented here.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, India

    Uttama Lahiri

  2. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Esubalew Bekele & Nilanjan Sarkar

  3. University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Elizabeth Dohrmann

  4. Pediatrics and Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Zachary Warren

  5. Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Nilanjan Sarkar

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  1. Uttama Lahiri
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  2. Esubalew Bekele
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  3. Elizabeth Dohrmann
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  4. Zachary Warren
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  5. Nilanjan Sarkar
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Correspondence to Uttama Lahiri.

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Lahiri, U., Bekele, E., Dohrmann, E. et al. A Physiologically Informed Virtual Reality Based Social Communication System for Individuals with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 919–931 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2240-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2240-5

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