A Virtual Reality Based System for the Screening and Classification of Autism

Robles M, Namdarian N, Otto J, Wassiljew E, Navab N, Falter-Wagner C, Roth D (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

DOI: 10.1109/TVCG.2022.3150489

Abstract

Autism - also known as Autism Spectrum Disorders or Autism Spectrum Conditions - is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by repetitive behaviours and differences in communication and social interaction. As a consequence, many autistic individuals may struggle in everyday life, which sometimes manifests in depression, unemployment, or addiction. One crucial problem in patient support and treatment is the long waiting time to diagnosis, which was approximated to seven months on average. Yet, the earlier an intervention can take place the better the patient can be supported, which was identified as a crucial factor. We propose a system to support the screening of Autism Spectrum Disorders based on a virtual reality social interaction, namely a shopping experience, with an embodied agent. During this everyday interaction, behavioral responses are tracked and recorded. We analyze this behavior with machine learning approaches to classify participants from an autistic participant sample in comparison to a typically developed individuals control sample with high accuracy, demonstrating the feasibility of the approach. We believe that such tools can strongly impact the way mental disorders are assessed and may help to further find objective criteria and categorization.

Authors with CRIS profile

Daniel Roth Juniorprofessur für Human-Centered Computing and Extended Reality

Involved external institutions

Technische Universität München (TUM) DE Germany (DE) Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Robles, M., Namdarian, N., Otto, J., Wassiljew, E., Navab, N., Falter-Wagner, C., & Roth, D. (2022). A Virtual Reality Based System for the Screening and Classification of Autism. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics. https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2022.3150489

MLA:

Robles, Marta, et al. "A Virtual Reality Based System for the Screening and Classification of Autism." IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (2022).

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