HoloLearn: Wearable mixed reality for people with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD)
Aruanno, B., Garzotto, F., Torelli, E., & Vona, F.
Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)
Summary
Our research explores the potential of wearable Mixed Reality (MR) for people with Neuro-Developmental Disorders (NDD). The paper presents HoloLearn, a MR application designed in cooperation with NDD experts and implemented using HoloLens technology. The goal of HoloLearn is to help people with NDD learn how to perform simple everyday tasks in domestic environments and improve autonomy. An original feature of the system is the presence of a virtual assistant devoted to capture the user's attention and to give hints during task execution in the MR environment. We performed an exploratory study involving 20 subjects with NDD to investigate the acceptability and usability of HoloLearn and its potential as a therapeutic tool. HoloLearn was well-accepted by the participants and the activities in the MR space were perceived as enjoyable, despite some usability problems associated with the HoloLens interaction mechanism. More extensive and long-term empirical research is needed to validate these early results, but our study suggests that HoloLearn could be adopted as a complement to more traditional interventions. Our work, and the lessons learned, may help designers and developers of future MR applications aimed at people with NDD and others with similar needs.
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Cite as
Aruanno, B., Garzotto, F., Torelli, E., & Vona, F. (2018). HoloLearn: Wearable mixed reality for people with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). In Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018).
