LESSON: Situation-specific emotion training for autism spectrum disorder children

Abstract: This project introduces an innovative system to situation-specific emotion training for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using a virtual reality (VR) system. Addressing the challenges associated with social communication and emotional recognition in ASD, this project aims to develop a VR game that trains ASD children to recognize and express emotions through interactive simulations of everyday situations. Two preliminary phases are implemented to help ASD subjects better understanding and developing emotions. These training phases are ‘mimic training’ to mimic avatar expressions and 'mirror training' to observe personal expressions. The system recognises and analyses responses and expressions of the ASD user to adopt the VR scenario-based game accordingly. This VR-based training offers a promising therapeutic application for enhancing emotional skills and social interactions in children with ASD.