Evaluating a virtual reality sensory room for adults with disabilities

Sublime and extended reality experiences to enhance emotional wellbeing for autistic people: A state of the art review and narrative synthesis

BACKGROUND

Sublime is a centuries old concept of emergent experience arising from immense and threatening awareness provoked by overwhelming fear and dread when faced with an incomprehensible situation as is common to autistic people. Extended Reality (XR) technologies have been used since the mid-1990s, in regulating emotions, behaviour and supporting social skill development for autistic people.

AIMS

To understand utility of XR technologies in creating immersive experiences for autistic people to alleviate anxiety and the relationship to the sublime.

METHOD

A State of the Art literature review and narrative synthesis was conducted. PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science were searched with terms Autism AND Technology. In addition, fields of digital technologies and wellbeing, digital art and mental health, generative arts and the sublime were explored through web searches of grey literature, conversations with digital designers and explorations of extended reality platforms. No time limits were placed. Searches were done in English. Papers were screened and shortlisted using the inclusion criteria applied by two reviewers.

RESULTS

Fifty-eight papers/articles met the preliminary inclusion criteria for in-depth review of which 31 were found suitable for the narrative synthesis related to XR technologies and sublime experiences as related to autistic people. Narrative synthesis lent itself to four themes that is current utility of XR Technologies in autism, the impact of immersive experiences on Behavioural, phenomenological and biological markers of autistic people, the Benefits of increased sensory stimulation using XR on autism and an inquiry into the potential of the sublime for autism.

CONCLUSIONS

Mixed reality environments that experiment with a broad range of XR technologies including incorporating notions of the sublime, might be beneficial in reducing emotional dysregulation and improving social development in autistic people especially if co-designed with them.

Design Considerations for Virtual Reality Intervention for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVES

This systematic review aims to explore virtual reality (VR) applications for rehabilitation purposes among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), identify their effects on rehabilitation outcomes, explore themes to consider in VR intervention design, and provide guidance for designers and researchers in creating therapeutic environments using VR technology.

BACKGROUND

VR has gained increasing attention in healthcare settings to assist in achieving rehabilitation goals for people with IDD. VR is particularly advantageous since it simulates the real world while providing controllable, safe, and versatile environments. It is necessary to expand the current body of knowledge on VR intervention's outcomes by synthesizing further information on VR application characteristics as well as identifying design considerations regarding feasibility, usability, safety, and other aspects that will benefit future VR intervention design and research.

METHODS

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framed the current review. Multiple databases were searched to identify studies published between 2001 and 2023. The review qualitatively organized VR environment design considerations according to three themes: feasibility, usability, and safety.

RESULTS

This review included 27 articles and included 868 participants. The overall findings indicated that VR interventions are promising in enhancing rehabilitation outcomes among people with IDD, such as physical, cognitive, emotional, and functional independence domains.

CONCLUSION

This review provides design recommendations to create effective, usable, and safe VR interventions for individuals with IDD. The suggested design implications should be applied with the awareness that VR is a relatively emerging technology with rapidly evolving features.

Nocturnal exposure to a preferred ambient scent does not affect dream emotionality or post-sleep core affect valence in young adults

Emotions experienced within sleep mentation (dreaming) affect mental functioning in waking life. There have been attempts at enhancing dream emotions using olfactory stimulation. Odors readily acquire affective value, but to profoundly influence emotional processing, they should bear personal significance for the perceiver rather than be generally pleasant. The main objective of the present sleep laboratory study was to examine whether prolonged nocturnal exposure to self-selected, preferred ambient room odor while asleep influences emotional aspects of sleep mentation and valence of post-sleep core affect. We asked twenty healthy participants (12 males, mean age 25 ± 4 years) to pick a commercially available scented room diffuser cartridge that most readily evoked positively valenced mental associations. In weekly intervals, the participants attended three sessions. After the adaptation visit, they were administered the odor exposure and odorless control condition in a balanced order. Participants were awakened five minutes into the first rapid eye movement (REM) stage that took place after 2:30 a.m. and, if they had been dreaming, they were asked to rate their mental sleep experience for pleasantness, emotional charge, and magnitude of positive and negative emotions and also to evaluate their post-sleep core affect valence. With rs < 0.20, no practically or statistically significant differences existed between exposure and control in any outcome measures. We conclude that in young, healthy participants, the practical value of olfactory stimulation with self-selected preferred scents for enhancement of dream emotions and post-sleep core affect valence is very limited.

Perceptions of a virtual reality sensory room for adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities

PURPOSE

Mental ill health and sensory processing difficulties often limit participation in everyday life for adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Interventions using technology such as virtual reality (VR) are increasingly accessible and may mitigate these difficulties. Understanding what contributes to the successful implementation of novel interventions is important for future use and evaluation. This study aimed to explore the feasibility of implementing a VR sensory room for adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities, their carers and support staff and to explore future iterations of the product and process.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Thirteen stakeholders who participated in a pilot trial of a VR sensory room were interviewed. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim for thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Eleven themes were identified which indicated that adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities found the VR sensory room to be mostly acceptable and enjoyable with usage largely consistent. Individual variation and support requirements were highlighted for each user. Future use may require modifications to the headset, in-built customisation options as well as buy-in and training for support staff.

CONCLUSIONS

The VR Sensory room is a promising tool to support adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities and results warrant further scaled research into the impact of this tool on outcomes for adults with disabilities.Implications for RehabilitationWhilst adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities may experience sensory processing difficulties which impact their everyday life, there is a paucity of interventions to address these difficulties.Implementation studies offer the opportunity to explore how evidence-based interventions may be implemented to facilitate the best outcomes.A Virtual Reality Sensory Room may offer an innovative alternative to a traditional sensory room for adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities where implementation is well supported.