Design and development of a virtual home for special needs children to learn life skills

• Main Author: Chung, Jolene Yee Peng
• Other Authors: Cai Yiyu
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/65792
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This project sets out to use first-person interaction in virtual reality (VR) situations to teach life skills to children with Autism Spectral Disorder (ASD). It aims to design and develop a virtual home environment so that children with ASD can learn in a safe yet immersive virtual environment. Teaching autistic children life skills may be a struggle as they generally have cognitive limitations and behavioural problems. Hence, tasks that involve a certain level of risk are usually executed with accompaniment from their caregivers. To mould the autistic children to be more self-reliant, learning in a safe, flexible and adaptable environment that provides a propitious learning platform with a step-by-step learning process will aid in the progress of their learning. This project uses the Leap Motion and the Unity3D game engine to provide an engaging experience for the children to learn life skills like turning off an alarm, brushing of teeth and making of milo . An experiment was conducted in the Asian Women’s Welfare Association (AWWA) School and the Metta School . A group of students and teachers were present during the experiments and to the author’s delight, both were a success. There was a high level of interactivity and engagement from the students of both schools. The teachers were agreeable that the project, with slight modifications, will be a great learning tool for their children. In conclusion, virtual reality is beneficial in addressing ASD common learning problems due to its repeatability, predictability and clear guidance that induces safer learning situations.