Development of an Augmented Reality based Joint Attention Training Platform for Autistic Children

Joint Attention (JA) is a major deficit in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Providing an early intervention is crucial as a lack of JA ability affects social communication skills in adult life. With the advent of technology, there has been a lot of development in JA skill training using computers and mixed-reality devices. Augmented Reality (AR) is increasingly being used for healthcare applications due to its ability to provide an interactive and engaging user experience. Currently there has been little exploration of AR as a medium for JA skill training. To address this problem, we have developed an AR based JA training platform using Microsoft Hololens 2 Head Mounted Display (HMD) with an inbuilt eye-tracker. This platform aims to gamify the process of JA skill training. It uses only gaze fixations for interaction, allowing users to practice their gaze-sharing and visual communication abilities. The user's performance is recorded based on the correctness of their gaze response and the duration to register a valid gaze response. To determine the effectiveness of our platform and its feasibility for delivering JA skill training, we have performed a pilot study involving 4 ASD and 4 age-matched neurotypical developing (NT) children. Observations from this feasibility study shows participants diagnosed with ASD took significantly more time to follow a JA cue and register a response as compared to their NT counterparts. This study also shows the acceptance of the AR based JA platform by both the ASD and NT participants to perform JA exercises and provides insights to further develop this platform.