exploring and informally trying to see what works for them. That doesn’t mean there isn’t outstanding research work being done currently to advance VR as assistive technology. Dr. Sar- ah Howorth at the University of Maine is working on using 360 degree video modeling to support social skills development for students with autism. According to Dr. Howorth: Students with disabilities such as autism and intellectual dis- ability benefit from practicing new skills in real world situations. Often it is difficult to replicate real world situations in a safe envi- ronment, or the environment may be too risky from a social or a safety perspective. 360 degree video modeling allows these in- dividuals to immerse themselves in an environment to practice a skill. Social skills can be rehearsed, and vocational skills prac- ticed in a way that allows for skill rehearsal in an environment that replicates the real world environment without real world risks. Once the individual becomes fluent in the skill, real world rehearsal may begin. Dr. David Cihak at the University of Tennessee is working on advancing VR interactive simulations for virtual job training for students and adults with Intellectual and developmental disabil- ities. According to Dr. Cihak “The advantage of VR simulations for job training is that we can provide multiple job environments and situations in a structured and safe setting. We can see what the learner is paying attention to in the situation and provide prompts and feedback based on the learners needs.” The goal of these simulations would be to provide a robust job training and point of view experiential practice to precoach critical job skills. In additional VR research projects the ATR&D Lab at WSU works to advance VR in education by partnering with classes in the teacher education programs to provide hands on experienc- es using VR and other immersive tools that preservice teachers then implement into their assignments. These introductory VR experiences have become student favorites as shown in student evaluations, lesson plans that include VR tools to support Uni- versal Design for Learning, and student research projects using VR. To reach current educators we also work to provide ongoing professional development. The ATR&D LAB sponsored its third full day preconference workshop at the Division of Autism and Developmental Disabilities conference on using Current and Emerging technology to support students with disabilities. These sessions start the day covering many traditional AT topics such as text to speech, accessibility tools, accessible instruction- al materials and build up to wearable and immersive learning tools such as VR. Our favorite and the audience’s favorite part of the day is the hands on afternoon session where we set up multiple stations of virtual reality experiences for the audience to try. In each station we provide many examples of how to use VR to support students with disabilities. In addition to our exam- ples, every time our audience comes up with new ways to use VR to address needs that they are trying to meet in their class- rooms. We need more of those great ideas and we need to share
them with each other. The best way to advance the adoption of new assistive tech- nology platforms such as VR is to get them to individuals with disabilities, special educators, related service providers, parents, families, and other stakeholders. AT is a diverse field touching on many different needs and contexts some of which VR can support. Our users’ strengths and needs are unique to each in- dividual and VR tools are one additional means of supporting the people we serve. A process of discovery and innovation is needed to advance VR as an assistive technology. The more VR devices and experiences we all try the faster we will build the knowledge base around this topic. Working with all of our com- munity of stakeholders, we can explore how to apply these new VR tools to empower and include individuals with disabilities. References McMahon, D.D, Barrio, B. L., McMahon, A. K., Tutt, K., & Fires- tone, J., (2019) Virtual reality exercise bike intervention for high school students with intellectual/developmental disability. Journal of Special Education Technology. 34, 2, Milgram, P., & Kishino, F. (1994). A taxonomy of mixed reality visual displays. IEICE Transactions on Information Systems, E77- -D(12), 1321–1329. Retrieved from http://web.cs.wpi.edu/~go- go/hive/papers/Milgram_IEICE_1994.pdf
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