Recent studies have shown the importance of new technologies, and in particular Mixed Reality (MR) systems, in generating new and extensive possibilities for therapies for children on the Autism Spectrum (AS), due to the affinity that children have for it, as well as the ability to engage and promote social and collaborative behaviors between the children. Based on the theoretical aspects of the potential of full body interaction as well as its practical applications based on theories of embodied cognition principles, the Full Body Interaction Lab at Pompeu Fabra University has conducted several studies and developed MR system experiences to investigate these topics in order to improve the social behavior of children with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC).The experience of previous experiments with these systems has pointed out the need to make them more accessible, besides suggesting some other practical and theoretical advantages of bringing these MR experiences into the social spaces of children with AS, such as schools, hospitals and others. In order to scale down the Mixed Reality experiences at the FuBIntLab, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive evaluation and testing of embodiment cognition properties, focusing on the body, space and social relations.
The goal of this study is to preserve the key properties of the current MR system size while achieving a much smaller footprint. The focus is on how the variability in MR scale size across age groups may affect the properties of territoriality & social distance, proprioception & kinaesthesia, navigation and wayfinding. The participants in this study of school age, adolescents and young adults, with cognitive diversity and not specifically children on AS.
We expect this research to provide methodological and theoretical insights into the notion of space definition, measurement, and size effects in full-body embodied cognition properties that can be applied to optimize the design of Mixed Reality system experiences.
