Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often exhibit impairments in communication and social interaction, and thus face various social challenges in collaborative activities. Given the cost of ASD intervention and lack of access to trained clinicians, technology-assisted ASD intervention has gained momentum in recent years. In this paper, we present a novel collaborative virtual environment (CVE)-based social interaction platform for ASD intervention. The development of CVE technology for ASD intervention may lead to the creation of a novel low-cost intervention environment that will foster collaboration with peers and provide flexibility in communication. The presented Communication-Enhancement CVE system, hand-in-hand, allows two children to play a series of interactive games in a virtual reality environment by using simple hand gestures to collaboratively move virtual objects that are tracked in real time via cameras. Furthermore, these games are designed to promote natural communication and cooperation between the users via the presented Communication-Enhancement mode that allows users to share information and discuss game strategies using gaze and voice-based communication. The results of a feasibility study with 12 children with ASD and 12 typically developing peers show that this system was well accepted by both the children with and without ASD, improved their cooperation in game play, and demonstrated the potential for fostering their communication and collaboration skills.

中文翻译：

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手牵手：促进自闭症谱系障碍儿童社交互动的交流增强协作虚拟现实系统

自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童经常表现出沟通和社会交往障碍，因此在协作活动中面临各种社会挑战。鉴于 ASD 干预的成本和缺乏训练有素的临床医生的机会，技术辅助的 ASD 干预近年来势头强劲。在本文中，我们提出了一种新的基于协作虚拟环境 (CVE) 的社交互动平台，用于 ASD 干预。用于 ASD 干预的 CVE 技术的发展可能会导致创建一种新颖的低成本干预环境，该环境将促进与同龄人的合作并提供沟通的灵活性。提出的通信增强 CVE 系统，手拉手，允许两个孩子在虚拟现实环境中玩一系列互动游戏，通过使用简单的手势协作移动通过摄像头实时跟踪的虚拟对象。此外，这些游戏旨在通过所呈现的通信增强模式促进用户之间的自然交流和合作，该模式允许用户使用凝视和基于语音的交流来共享信息和讨论游戏策略。对 12 名 ASD 儿童和 12 名典型发育中的同龄人进行的可行性研究结果表明，该系统被有和没有 ASD 的儿童所接受，提高了他们在游戏中的合作，并展示了培养他们沟通和协作技能的潜力. 此外，这些游戏旨在通过所呈现的通信增强模式促进用户之间的自然交流和合作，该模式允许用户使用凝视和基于语音的交流来共享信息和讨论游戏策略。对 12 名 ASD 儿童和 12 名典型发育中的同龄人进行的可行性研究结果表明，该系统被有和没有 ASD 的儿童所接受，提高了他们在游戏中的合作，并展示了培养他们沟通和协作技能的潜力. 此外，这些游戏旨在通过所呈现的通信增强模式促进用户之间的自然交流和合作，该模式允许用户使用凝视和基于语音的交流来共享信息和讨论游戏策略。对 12 名 ASD 儿童和 12 名典型发育中的同龄人进行的可行性研究结果表明，该系统被有和没有 ASD 的儿童所接受，提高了他们在游戏中的合作，并展示了培养他们沟通和协作技能的潜力.