Improving play skills in autistic students through the use of virtual reality

Technology in today's society is the tool that is most widely used in daily life activities. The main reason is the accessibility for any type of user and the quick response to problems that arise in the development of daily activities. The diffusion of this tool is reaching various fields of knowledge, including education. Within this field, the use of Virtual Reality is particularly noteworthy. The presentation of information in a visual way by VR is adjusted to the learning needs of autistic students. Therefore, the aim of the research is to analyze the improvements in play skills of autistic students due to the use of virtual reality. To this end, the Oculus Quest 2 glasses were used to work in virtual reality environments and the Denver questionnaire was used to apply a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test methodology with a group of 11 autistic students who individually developed 11 sessions. Significant improvements were produced in the play dimension, specifically in item 4 referring to placing figures appropriately in vehicles or miniatures. The implementation of artificial intelligence that can produce activities in real time adapted to the characteristics of the child is proposed as a future line of work.