Immersive virtual reality could open up a complete recent world for individuals with mental disability, enabling them to learn practical life skills much faster without counting on caregivers, in keeping with a brand new study.
Australian researchers compared the effectiveness of immersive VR headsets and non-immersive virtual environments to show 36 adults with an mental disability learn how to separate general waste from recycling, garden, and food organics.
The study, undertaken by University of South Australia and UNSW Sydney researchers, involved 12 virtual training sessions. The VR group using the immersive head-mounted displays scored significantly higher in real life than those that used a tablet device for training.
The findings have been published within the Journal of Mental Disability Research.
UniSA Associate Professor Tobias Loetscher says individuals with mental disability need additional time to understand and visualise concepts, and VR headsets enabled participants to experience realistic worlds and learn from hands-on experience.
“Research shows that ‘learning by doing’, otherwise often called experiential learning, seems simpler for this group in comparison with passive methods of learning,” Assoc Prof Loetscher says.
“In our study, the VR group not only demonstrated real-world improvements in appropriately sorting waste immediately after the VR training; they were capable of sustain this improvement as much as every week afterwards, compared to the non-immersive group.”
UNSW Research Fellow Dr Stefan Michalski says immersive virtual reality allows individuals to experience activities in a secure, controlled, and repeatable environment.
“Opportunities for individuals with an mental disability to take part in hands-on learning are sometimes minimal on account of concerns around risk of injury, time constraints and lack of staff training,” Dr Michalski says.
“Nonetheless, immersive VR simulates real-world experiences, giving the feeling of being physically present in an environment without real-world risks.”
Most individuals with mental disability experience significant challenges in performing basic life skills reminiscent of cooking, showering, and cleansing without caregiver assistance.
“Difficulties in performing these life skills prevents them from living independently and having fun with a greater quality of life, so it is important we discover effective methods for developing life skills on this population,” in keeping with first writer, UniSA honours student Andrew Franze.
Cybersickness has been flagged as a possible drawback of using 3D headsets for training, but just one person within the VR group reported feeling dizzy, and their symptoms were short lived.
Most participants found the VR technology enjoyable, despite some hesitancy when using head-mounted displays for the primary time.
The researchers used a waste management task on this study but say that immersive VR training could possibly be used to show other basic skills reminiscent of cooking and kitchen safety, personal hygiene, public transport navigation, and social skills.
“There may be accumulating evidence that VR is useful, but we want to shut the gap from research to implementation in order that more people can profit from this technology,” Dr Michalski says.
“Our current work goals to deal with the unmet health needs of individuals with mental disability through the use of VR to arrange individuals for healthcare interactions, reducing the fear and anxiety related to going to the doctor.”
