Can virtual reality help Autistic kids navigate the real world?

[Alaric593]

Can virtual reality help autistic children navigate the real world? – The Seattle Times

 

[Forest Cat]

I saw something I thought was very interesting a while ago. It was a Danish show called "Too shy to date". It got my attention because some of the people had an autism diagnosis and it was very difficult for them to meet people. It's in Danish but this is the link to it:
DRTV - For genert til at date - kærligheden findes i virtual reality

A group of experts first matched two people they thought would get along. And then they met in virtual reality. They were sitting in their homes with those silly VR helmet-things on their heads. They had avatars that resembled them. So the first time they met, they met in that computer universe and they had to solve some puzzles together and do things together. They did that several times. Then they met in VR while sitting at a table in the same room together. And then they took the VR masks off and met for the first time face to face.

And it surprised me how well it worked. They had already met in a way and they had something to talk about, the experience of meeting in that computer world. And then they tried hanging out and doing things with no computers. It worked surprisingly well. I didn't think it would work, it sounded silly at first but I ended up watching all the episodes and it was special.