Design of a Desktop Virtual Reality-Based Collaborative Activities Simulator (ViRCAS) to Support Teamwork in Workplace Settings for Autistic Adults

• Published in: IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering Vol. 31; pp. 2184 - 2194
• Main Authors: Amat, Ashwaq Z., Adiani, Deeksha, Tauseef, Mahrukh, Breen, Michael, Hunt, Spencer, Swanson, Amy R, Weitlauf, Amy S., Warren, Zachary E., Sarkar, Nilanjan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 2023; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Autism; Autistic Disorder; Behavioral sciences; Collaboration; collaborative virtual environment; Communication; Computer applications; Cooperation; Data analysis; Employment; Feasibility studies; human computer interaction; Humans; Intelligent system; Longitudinal studies; Skills; Stakeholders; Task analysis; Teamwork; Training; Virtual environments; Virtual Reality; Workplace
• ISSN: 1534-4320; 1558-0210
• DOI: 10.1109/TNSRE.2023.3271139

Autistic adults possess many skills sought by employers, but may be at a disadvantage in the workplace if social-communication differences negatively impact teamwork. We present a novel collaborative virtual reality (VR)-based activities simulator, called ViRCAS, that allows autistic and neurotypical adults to work together in a shared virtual space, offering the chance to practice teamwork and assess progress. ViRCAS has three main contributions: 1) a new collaborative teamwork skills practice platform; 2) a stakeholder-driven collaborative task set with embedded collaboration strategies; and 3) a framework for multimodal data analysis to assess skills. Our feasibility study with 12 participant pairs showed preliminary acceptance of ViRCAS, a positive impact of the collaborative tasks on supported teamwork skills practice for autistic and neurotypical individuals, and promising potential to quantitatively assess collaboration through multimodal data analysis. The current work paves the way for longitudinal studies that will assess whether the collaborative teamwork skill practice that ViRCAS provides also contributes towards improved task performance.