Deficits in interpersonal communication along with difficulty in putting oneself into the shoes of others characterizes individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Additionally, they exhibit atypical looking pattern causing them to miss aspects related to understanding other's preference for a context that is crucial for effective social communication. Prior research studies show the use of multiplayer platforms can improve interaction among these individuals. However, these multiplayer platforms do not demand players to understand each other's preference, important for effective social interaction. In this work, we have developed a multiplayer interaction platform using virtual reality augmented with eye-tracking technology. Thirty-six participants comprising of individuals with ASD (n = 18; GroupASD) and typically developing (TD) individuals (n = 18; GroupTD) interacted in pairs within each participant group using our platform. Results indicate that both GroupASD and GroupTD showed improvement in performance across the tasks with the GroupTD performing better than the GroupASD. Additionally, the eye-gaze data indicated an underlying relationship between one's looking pattern and task performance that was differentiated between the GroupASD and GroupTD. The current results indicate a potential of our multiplayer interaction platform to serve as a complementary tool in the hands of the interventionist promoting social reciprocity and interaction among individuals with ASD.

中文翻译：

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为自闭症患者提供视线追踪功能的多人互动平台


自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 患者的特点是人际沟通缺陷以及难以设身处地为他人着想。此外，他们表现出非典型的外貌模式，导致他们错过了与理解他人对环境的偏好相关的方面，而这对于有效的社交沟通至关重要。先前的研究表明，多人游戏平台的使用可以改善这些人之间的互动。然而，这些多人游戏平台并不要求玩家了解彼此的偏好，这对于有效的社交互动很重要。在这项工作中，我们开发了一个使用虚拟现实和眼动追踪技术增强的多人交互平台。由 ASD 个体（n = 18；GroupASD）和典型发展（TD）个体（n = 18；GroupTD）组成的 36 名参与者使用我们的平台在每个参与者组内成对互动。结果表明，GroupASD 和 GroupTD 的各项任务性能均有所提高，其中 GroupTD 的性能优于 GroupASD。此外，眼睛注视数据表明了一个人的注视模式和任务表现之间的潜在关系，这在 GroupASD 和 GroupTD 之间是有区别的。目前的结果表明，我们的多人互动平台有潜力作为干预者手中的补充工具，促进自闭症谱系障碍患者之间的社会互惠和互动。