Virtual Reality Victories for Special Populations

WILL MY LEARNER EVEN WEAR THE HEADSET? Before trying it out, a common concern about Floreo is whether a Learner with tactile sensitivities (especially around the head and face) or one who is generally apprehensive will wear the VR headset. The overwhelming majority of Floreo cus- tomers report success with their Learners wearing the headset. The estimate is that about 80-85% of the Learners who attempt the headset will wear it. There have even been anecdotal reports that some children who reject other objects on their heads, such as hats or glasses, are interested in wearing the VR goggles once they realize there is something fun to see and do while wearing the headset. The best advice is to start slowly using a VR experience that the Learner will enjoy and can navigate relatively independent- ly. Floreo has a 360-degree, gaze-activated marimba/xylophone that is often a good starting point for many Learners. As the Learner looks at the keys on the marimba, a tone will play and the key will light up. It is also important to keep the first VR experience very short (a minute or two) to ensure that the Learner is feeling well and is not experiencing any eye strain. Floreo has plenty of VR lessons that can be enjoyed and completed quickly, sometimes in under a minute. These can be good starter lessons. In most of the Floreo lessons, the Learner stays in one loca- tion in the scene. Learners will still have the ability to look in all directions and feel immersed, but there is much less of a chance of feeling queasy if Learners are stationary. After a few sessions, people typically become acclimated to the experience and can tolerate movement. In lessons where there is movement, the Learner's view moves, although the Learner can remain station- ary in the real world. Floreo is very careful that the movement in scenes such as street crossing or moving through the grocery store is not jarring. Similarly, Floreo has always been very careful about the kind of light and the colors that appear in the scenes. The Floreo website has information on what to watch for, tips and tricks on introducing the headset, as well as visual supports that can be used to help Learners communicate about their gen- eral well-being before and after VR. Resources are here. EQUIPMENT AND INTERNET ACCESS To use Floreo, a Learner device, a Coach device, and a wifi sig- nal are all needed. The wifi wirelessly connects the two devices. Learner device options: • iPhone 7 or more recent running iOS 15.0 or later, and any compatible Google Cardboard VR headset that fits your iPhone. This setup can be used by children as young as 5 years of age and can be used by Learners through adulthood. OR • a Meta Quest compatible headset. This may be used by anyone 10 years of age or older.

OR • a PICO Business compatible headset. This may be used by anyone 10 years of age or older. Coach device: Internet-connected device with a browser. The following browsers are compatible with Floreo: Safari, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. Wifi — Please note: The Coach and Learner devices do not need to be on the same wifi signal. Floreo is tele-health ready, so that a Coach could run a session from an office computer, while connected to the Learner's device at home. Then, the Coach would interact with the Learner over a teleconference call, such as Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet. FLOREO CONTENT FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES Due to its immersive nature, Floreo's various lessons provide many hidden learning opportunities. The content can be viewed from a variety of angles, and the application of the platform may be seen differently depending on the background of the Coach reviewing it. For example, Floreo’s yoga lessons were de- veloped as an emotional regulation lesson, and a social worker or psychologist may implement them as such. An SLP may look at these lessons and capitalize on all of the listening compre- hension opportunities it offers, while an OT might use them as a motor imitation opportunity. The following are a few categories of lessons to consider: Non-speaking individuals: The lessons related to Communi- cative Eye Gaze (joint attention and precursor skills related to joint attention) are accessible to these Learners, because the Learner simply shifts gaze in response to a particular event, such as a pointing gesture or the character’s shift of eye gaze. Two of the imitation lessons (“Be a Copy Hero” and “Show 'Em What to Do”) only require an action on the Learner's part, with the Coach determining when the action was performed adequately, tapping a button for the lesson to continue. The early gestures lessons are based on a simple play narrative. In these lessons, Learners impact their environment by demonstrating commu- nicative gestures, such as pointing, waving come over, gesturing stop, etc. Non-speaking Learners can access many of the sensory experiences in the Emotional Regulation Skill Category, as well as engage with the street crossing lessons. Many of the other lessons can be adapted for use by non-speaking individuals. Us- ers of AAC may be able to use the conversation-based lessons if they tip the headset up briefly, engage their personal AAC de- vice, and then return to VR to continue the interaction. Motor skills: As mentioned above, the Yoga lessons, the mo- tor imitation lessons, and the communicative gestures lessons may be appropriate for learners who are working on motor tar- gets. Additionally, there is a "Crystal Cave" lesson in the emo- tional regulation category in which Learners are asked to open and close their hands, lift and lower their shoulders, and then raise and lower their toes.

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