Educators from the University of Magdeburg present prototypes of a virtual learning environment for people with autism spectrum disorder
Magdeburg/Germany, January 24, 2025. Educators from Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg have developed prototypes of a virtual learning environment for adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as part of an international research project. In future, this will enable those affected to train social interaction with their environment in a targeted and protected space and gain greater confidence in everyday life.
The prototype of the learning platform and other results of the international research project BitTheSpectrum ‘Augmented and Virtual Reality Technologies to Boost Literary and Social Emotion Skills in Autism Spectrum Disorder Students’ will be presented to an interested audience for the first time at an information event.
The event is aimed at interested parties and anyone who is professionally or personally involved in, interested in or affected by the topic of vocational training for people on the autism spectrum. Registration by email to tim.volkmann@ovgu.de is possible until 31 January 2025. Admission is free of charge. In addition to the presentation of project results, guests can expect contributions from the specialist community and an informative dialogue.
WHAT: ‘Bit The Spectrum’ information event
WHEN: 11 February 10 am – 2 pm
WHERE: Otto-von-Guericke-Zentrum/Lukasklause, Schleinufer 1, 39104 Magdeburg
Media representatives are cordially invited to report on the event. Testing of the prototypes will take place from 13:00.
As part of the international research network BitTheSpectrum, a research team from the Chair of Engineering Education and Didactics of Technical Education at the University of Magdeburg has worked with people with ASD to develop virtual training scenarios that enable teenagers and young adults to repeatedly practise everyday but challenging situations, such as travelling by bus, at their own pace in a digital world. All processes, from the arrival of the bus and boarding to buying a ticket and interacting with other passengers, are presented realistically. The teenagers and young adults have to make decisions during the interactive exercise in order to master the respective situation. Other scenarios include taking part in a job interview or taking on a variety of tasks in a restaurant.
„Basically, it should be noted that autism is a spectrum. This means that autism can take on very different forms from person to person. However, social and emotional signals are often difficult for people on the spectrum to assess and send out, and it is also often difficult to classify facial expressions and gestures, or to interpret humour, irony or sarcasm,“ explains project manager and research associate in the field of vocational and occupational education Tim Volkmann. ‘This poses challenges for people on the autism spectrum in particular, but also for their trainers within a vocational training programme.’
The international research project ‘Augmented and Virtual Reality Technologies to Boost Literary and Social Emotion Skills in Autism Spectrum Disorder Students’ is a three-year Europe-wide partnership in the field of vocational training.
Vocational training. Co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, the aim is to bring together different perspectives, experiences and skills of experts in new technologies and autism spectrum disorder to improve education and care processes for students with ASD.
The prototypes developed will be made available to the public and educational institutions for free use at the end of the project. Furthermore, the prototypes developed will serve as ideas for teaching staff to create their own applications following appropriate online training.
The project consortium consists of the Accademia IRSEI APS in Italy, the Spanish organisation SkillsDivers, the Finnish company 3DBear, the Finnish Luovi Vocational College and the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg.
Translated with DeepL_com
Further information:
(https://bitthespectrum.infoproject.eu/)
Further information on the project
ImageSource
University of Magdeburg, Hannah Theile
Project member Hannes Tegelbeckers tries out the prototype of the learning platform with VR glasses. What he sees can be seen on the screen in the background.