Mobile augmented reality to support teachers of children with autism

Abstract

The visual supports teachers use during the object discrimination therapies of children with autism are not interactive, and children with autism lose concentration and motivation, resulting in increasing the workload of teachers during therapies. We hypothesize that augmented reality (AR) could offer a new type of “augmented visual support” capable of providing the visual support and interactivity teachers need to engage children with autism during therapies. We present a deployment study of MOBIS to understand if mobile AR technologies could reduce the burden and workload of teachers during therapies. We analyze a data-set of 8-weeks deployment study of the use of MOBIS in three classrooms of students with autism (n=21, 7 teachers and 14 students with autism). We found that MOBIS enables multitasking, and reduces teachers’ burden and workload. We close discussing directions for future work.