A Systematic Review to Know How Interventions Realized with Immersive Virtual Reality-Based Serious Games for Individuals with Autism are Evaluated

Today, the growing diffusion of Information Communication Technology and the concomitant system cost reductions encouraged, even more, the exploitation of innovative solutions, especially in the field of interventions for autism. The need for efficient and effective interventions for autism is becoming more pressing for several reasons ranging from the dramatic increase in its prevalence to the high direct and indirect costs of its care over a lifetime. Among all Information Communication Technology-based interventions for autism, those realized with Immersive Virtual Reality based Serious Games appear to be the most promising. However, even if an intervention is considered promising for a clinical population does not mean that it is also efficient and effective. In fact, to be efficient and effective, an intervention must be evidence-based. Unfortunately, nowadays, there is a lack of evaluation protocols that allow for avoiding methodological biases thus providing interventions evidence-based. Consequently, clinicians are reluctant to use these interventions in clinical practice. This awareness led to the emergence of the research question of this systematic review: how interventions realized with Immersive Virtual Reality based Serious Games for individuals with autism are evaluated? The present systematic review answered this research question showing consistent methodological issues related to how these kinds of interventions are evaluated and laying the foundation for a reflection on the need to create specific evaluation protocols to overcome these issues and promoting thus the blossoming of rigorous studies on this topic.