Analysis of interpersonal communication in a Mixed Reality full-body interaction experience to foster social initiation in children with Autism

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) is a neurodevelopment condition in which the core deficits lie in social communication and social interaction. Therefore, it is important to help people with ASC to develop socio-communication skills so that they can function efficiently in society. Different therapies have been developed over time, but the emergence of technology and the interest of children with ASC towards the technology has allowed the development of more innovative therapies such as interventions that allow developing face-to-face interactions. These types of interventions focus on the development of active and dynamic systems in which the therapist does not have a direct influence on individuals during the therapy. Therefore, the possibility of ICT, and in particular Full-Body Interaction Mixed Reality System, may be developed to effect social interaction as much as a traditional therapy setting. In addition, physiological changes are related to adaptive behaviors to regulate social interactions. Hence, this thesis is focused on the evaluation of a Mixed Reality face-to-face full-body interaction experience in terms of the interpersonal relationship and communication between ASC and non-ASC children. The experience has been evaluated by a different amount of data sources such as observed overt behaviors, physiological data (HRV & EDA), system log files, and questionnaires allowing us to better understand how users in the experience convey engagement and regulate social interactions. Nevertheless, previous research has only been evaluated the huge amount of data collected from children with autism and all the data of children without autism who participate as playmates in the experience have yet to be evaluated. Therefore, the present study is focused in two main objectives (i) understand the effectiveness of the MR experience in terms of social interaction and social initiation in children without autism and the dyad compared to a typical social intervention strategy, and (ii) understand the relationship between the arousal activity and the overt social interaction behaviors in the MR environment compared to the typical social intervention. Results show how the full-body mixed reality system can be a good mediator in socialization, specifically in fostering social initiations between a child without autism and a child with autism and being a new dynamic tool for interventions with children with autism. The positive results obtained are of great interest to promote further research on the system and to develop a new version that may be easier to carry out in school settings. Also, the active system can help children without autism to better integrate children with autism into society.