Exploring the Impact of Augmented Reality in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by persistent difficulties in communication and social interaction along with a restriction in interests and the presence of repetitive behaviors. The development and use of augmented reality technology for autism has increased in recent years. However, little is known about the impact of these virtual reality technologies on clinical health symptoms. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the impact of augmented reality through social, cognitive, and behavioral domains in children and adolescents with autism. This study is the first contribution that has carried out an evidence-based systematic review including relevant science databases about the effectiveness of augmented reality-based intervention in ASD. The initial search identified a total of 387 records. After the exclusion of papers that are not research studies and are duplicated articles and after screening the abstract and full text, 20 articles were selected for analysis. The studies examined suggest promising findings about the effectiveness of augmented reality-based treatments for the promotion, support, and protection of health and wellbeing in children and adolescents with autism. Finally, possible directions for future work are discussed.

Mobile Augmented Reality Technologies for Autism Spectrum Disorder Interventions: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Khowaja et al [44] have conducted an SLR of primary studies published in 2005-2018 on the use of AR to learn different skills for children and adolescents with ASD and proposed the research classification of ASD; however, their study did not address MAR, and the research timeframe needs to be updated. Berenguer et al [45] carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of AR technologies on ASD. In this paper, we conduct an SLR of the use of MAR for ASD-related interventions from 2010 to 2020 and address ten research questions (RQ) related to PICO in order to identify current trends, future prospects and possible gaps related to the mobile AR technologies in the field of autism spectrum disorder.…”

Virtual Reality and Wearable Technologies to Support Adaptive Responding of Children and Adolescents With Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Critical Comment and New Perspectives

“…Conversely, AR may be considered as simpler because it refers to smartphones, tablets, and I-PAD, which are more adaptable to the real world (Liu et al, 2017;Mesa-Gresa et al, 2018;Akin and Gokturk, 2019). Berenguer et al (2020) systematically reviewed the literature on this specific topic among children and adolescents with ASD and emphasized the effectiveness of AR-based programs to promote and support health, well-being, and quality of life in individuals with ASD. Wiguna et al (2020) proposed a four-step method as a mixed method research design aimed at combining qualitative and quantitative approaches to reduce bias and collect reliable data.…”

“…Although ADHD and ASD populations were widely targeted, cerebral palsy and rare genetic diseases were still uninvestigated (Valentine et al, 2020 ). Moreover, communication, emotional, social skills, and posture were evaluated (Berenguer et al, 2020 ). Conversely, challenging behaviors, positive occupation (e.g., request and choice capacities), and leisure options were relatively ignored (Airaksinen et al, 2020 ).…”

Extended Reality for the Clinical, Affective, and Social Neurosciences

“…An example clinical application is in the treatment of autism [48]. The efficacy of clinical XR for people with autism has been explored in systematic reviews of AR [49] and VR [47]. In a recent systematic review of the usage of AR technology (e.g., smartglasses, mobile devices, video projection systems) with people with autism, revealed positive main results.…”