VR boosts skill development in people with intellectual disabilities, study finds

[A new study from researchers at the University of South Australia demonstrates the potential of presence-evoking virtual reality to aid the learning of practical skills by people with intellectual disabilities. As with all of the press coverage, this story from Forbes is based on a press release from the University, which includes a 52-second video (also available on YouTube). –Matthew]

[Image: Figure 7 from the published study. “Correct disposals in the real-world assessment across timepoints and between groups. Note: Circular points on each line represent the mean correct disposals in the Real-World Assessment, and the error bars represent the standard error for each mean. The blue line represents the immersive virtual reality (IVR) group, and the red line represents the non-immersive tablet group. Significance testing completed using Bonferroni-holm corrected post hoc comparisons. Non-significant comparisons using an alpha cutoff value of P < 0.05 were labelled by ns. Significant comparisons were labelled *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. Source: Franze, A., Loetscher, T., Gallomarino, N. C., Szpak, A., Lee, G. & Michalski, S. C. (2024). Immersive virtual reality is more effective than non-immersive devices for developing real-world skills in people with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.13177.]

VR Boosts Skill Development In People With Intellectual Disabilities, Study Finds

By Gus Alexiou, Contributor, a London-based reporter covering disability inclusion
August 31, 2024

A new study has demonstrated how virtual reality headsets can accelerate the mastery of day-to-day household tasks for individuals living with intellectual disabilities.

The study published in the Journal of Intellectual Disability Research involved researchers from the University of South Australia and the University of New South Wales in Sydney. It entailed an exercise to teach 36 individuals with intellectual impairments how to separate household waste into recycling, garden waste and food waste. The group was split with one half being trained on the task using virtual reality headsets and the other with just a tablet.

Overall, the group using immersive VR significantly outperformed the tablet group. Most users in the VR group found the technology enjoyable with only one participant reporting the side effect of dizziness which was short-lived.

In a media release, the study authors suggested that the innate immersion of virtual reality when compared to other technologies may lead to a speedier absorption and reinforcement of key concepts amongst a patient population with a natural tendency towards more visual learning styles.

“Research shows that ‘learning by doing’, otherwise known as experiential learning, seems more effective for this group compared to passive methods of learning,” said University of South Australia Associate Professor Tobias Loetscher whose area of expertise is the cognitive function of individuals with brain damage.

He continued, “In our study, the VR group not only demonstrated real-world improvements in correctly sorting waste immediately after the VR training; they were able to sustain this improvement up to a week afterward, in comparison to the non-immersive group.”

Meanwhile, UNSW Research Fellow Dr Stefan Michalski emphasized the positive safety elements associated with virtual reality training.

“Opportunities for people with an intellectual disability to participate in hands-on learning are often minimal due to concerns around risk of injury, time constraints and lack of staff training,” Michalski said.

“However, immersive VR simulates real-world experiences, giving the sensation of being physically present in an environment without real-world risks. There is accumulating evidence that VR is beneficial, but we need to close the gap from research to implementation so that more people can benefit from this technology.”

Virtual reality has been shown to have the potential to treat a wide range of other health conditions from PTSD and stroke rehabilitation to chronic pain management and even sight augmentation for individuals with low vision.

The longer-term adoption of VR in healthcare is likely to hinge on several factors including how mainstream the technology becomes overall. Whilst many commentators have hailed virtual reality as the next big thing and huge technology players like Apple and Meta continue to bet big on the technology, other commentators have suggested that it will end up playing second fiddle to augmented reality which mixes digital images with the real world. The latter technology involves far less isolating and obtrusive eyewear which is likely to appeal to many people. How big and mainstream the technology becomes is also likely to have an impact on disabled users as this will likely correspond to efforts towards maximizing accessibility.

For now, researchers want to see whether the positive gains seen in this study for those with cognitive issues can be replicated in other tasks of daily living such as cooking and kitchen safety, personal hygiene, public transport navigation, and social skills with the hope of promoting independence and reducing reliance on caregivers.


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