Autism spectrum condition (ASC) is a neurodevelopmental disability that can result in
social and communication difficulties. There are many therapy approaches and
interventions developed and used to be able to help individuals who are diagnosed with
ASC. These approaches and interventions mainly aim at helping those people so that
they can function better and easier in society. In addition to the traditional interventions
for autism spectrum conditions, with the development of technology, different
interventions ...
Autism spectrum condition (ASC) is a neurodevelopmental disability that can result in
social and communication difficulties. There are many therapy approaches and
interventions developed and used to be able to help individuals who are diagnosed with
ASC. These approaches and interventions mainly aim at helping those people so that
they can function better and easier in society. In addition to the traditional interventions
for autism spectrum conditions, with the development of technology, different
interventions are being developed. These innovative interventions allow children with
ASC to develop their social and communication skills. The potential of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT), especially full-body interaction mixed reality
systems, is found as effective as the traditional therapy for children with ASC to train
their social initiation skills. However, even before social initiation, children with ASC
can gain a prosocial attitude. Interpersonal entrainment is found to increase the
prosocial behavior of individuals. However, there is not enough study to see how
interpersonal entrainment can be achieved by using technology, and how this
entrainment can affect the prosocial behavior of children with and without ASC.
Therefore, the main goals of this study are (i) to analyze the design of an experience by
using the full-body interaction MR system, where children can experience interpersonal
entrainment, and (ii) to see if this experience helps children with and without ASC
increase their prosocial attitude. The interactive experience was evaluated through
questionnaires, system logs, tracking maps, and behavioral tests. Results of the study
demonstrate how full-body interactive experience can be powerful to achieve
interpersonal entrainment and give great insight into interaction design. Further research
on this system can be done to give the children different types of experiences to see how
these experiences can differ from each other in terms of having interpersonal
entrainment and fostering prosocial behavior, and also to implement the system in
school settings where it can be more accessible since having easier access to the system
can help children with ASC cohere with society.
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