Enhancing daily living skills in autistic individuals through extended reality: a scoping review
Peidi Gu, Xueqin Qian, Xinhao Xu, Ling Zhang, Zijie Ma · International Journal of Developmental Disabilities · 2024
Objectives Despite growing interest, there is limited understanding of how extended reality (XR) technologies enhance daily living skills (DLS) for autistic individuals. This review aims to thoroughly analyze the use of XR in DLS interventions. It seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the implementation of XR technology in autism interventions, focusing on study characteristics, technological features, and quality of study designs.Methods We conducted a scoping review of literature published in English from 2000 to 2023 across four databases, adhering to predefined inclusion criteria. Out of the screened articles, twenty studies met the inclusion criteria.Results The review indicates that Virtual Reality platforms are still predominant in this field. Driving and job interviews emerged as the most frequently explored DLS. A majority of the studies utilized basic computer devices for interaction and visual display, and a limited number of studies met all the research quality indicators.Conclusions This study offers a comprehensive overview of XR technology application in DLS interventions for autistic individuals, as per existing literature. It highlighted the nascent state of XR-based DLS interventions for this population and emphasized the need for collaborative efforts between XR experts and professionals in the autism community for future research advancement.