Natural interfaces for training and measuring social Skills in Adults with Autism spectrum disorders

Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibit an impairment in social interaction capabilities. The main objective of the study is to explore the interaction with virtual environments (VE) by natural interfaces (NI) as a way to facilitate the acquisition of social skills. The study involved a total of four subjects with ASD. After an initial assessment of their basic skills and a familiarization phase with the VE and NI, participants performed 3 exercise sessions of 45 minutes each, with increasing levels of difficulty. During each session, participants completed two different paths in the VE, following arrows and signs directed toward either a pharmacy or a police station. We developed a metric for evaluating both the ability to interact with the VE and the acquisition of the specific social skill. Preliminary results showed improvements in both competences.