Integrating artificial intelligence and virtual reality is revolutionizing how students with autism spectrum disorder learn and practice social skills. Researchers at the University of Kansas have been developing a virtual reality system, known as VOISS, which has proven effective in helping students with disabilities improve their social interactions in a simulated school environment.
Building on this success, the research team has secured funding to enhance the system with AI components, creating an extended reality experience that promises to sharpen social interactions in a more natural and immersive setting. The new system, called iKNOW, will combine the virtual reality aspects of VOISS with large language models and other AI features, allowing for more spontaneous and authentic interactions between students and virtual avatars and providing real-time feedback and progress monitoring to support personalized learning.
By harnessing the power of AI and VR, iKNOW aims to provide students with a more engaging and effective way to develop essential social-emotional skills, ultimately improving their overall learning outcomes and readiness for real-world interactions.
Introduction to Social Skills Development with AI and VR
The development of social skills is a crucial aspect of education, particularly for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other disabilities. Researchers at the University of Kansas have been working on a virtual reality system, known as VOISS (Virtual reality Opportunity to Integrate Social Skills), designed to help students with disabilities improve their social skills in a typical school day. The system has proven successful and statistically valid in helping students with disabilities improve social skills, with 140 unique learning scenarios teaching knowledge and understanding of 183 social skills in virtual school environments.
The VOISS system allows students to practice social skills such as receptive or expressive communication across multiple environments, not simply in the isolation of a classroom. The system has been implemented at schools across the country and is available on the Apple Store and Google Play. However, the researchers have now secured funding to add artificial intelligence (AI) components to the system, creating an extended reality (XR) experience that will sharpen social interactions in a more natural setting. This new system, known as iKNOW (Increasing Knowledge and Natural Opportunities With Social Emotional Competence), will combine the VR aspects of VOISS with AI features such as large language models to enhance the system’s capabilities.
The integration of AI technology into the iKNOW system will allow students to engage in more natural and relatable conversations, with spoken responses that are contextualized and provide cues for better understanding. The system will also provide a real-time student progress monitoring system, offering data on how long students spoke, how frequently they spoke, number of keywords used, and where students may have struggled in the system. This information will help educators and families enhance their understanding of the student’s social skills development.
AI-Powered Social Skills Development
The iKNOW system will leverage the power of AI to create a more personalized learning experience for individuals with disabilities. By allowing students to speak and respond like they would in a normal conversation, the system will provide a more natural and relatable environment for practicing social skills. The use of real middle school students’, educators’, and administrators’ voices as avatars will also enhance the natural environment of the system, without the shortcomings of students practicing social skills with classmates in supervised sessions.
The AI-powered system will also provide tools for teachers to support students with disabilities, taking some of the burden off their plates. The iKNOW system will offer resources for teachers and families who want to implement the system at a website called iKNOW TOOLS (Teaching Occasions and Opportunities for Learning Supports), supporting generalization of social skills across real-world settings. By combining research-based social emotional virtual reality work with the increasing power and flexibility of AI, iKNOW will further personalize the learning experience for individuals with disabilities.
Benefits and Implications
The development of the iKNOW system has significant implications for the education of students with disabilities. The system’s ability to provide a personalized learning experience, combined with its natural and relatable environment, will help students develop essential social emotional skills that can be applied in real-world settings. The system’s real-time student progress monitoring system will also offer valuable insights into the student’s social skills development, allowing educators and families to tailor their support accordingly.
The iKNOW system is one of four OSEP Innovation and Development grants intended to spur innovation in educational technology. The research team will present their work on the project at the annual I/ITSEC conference, the world’s largest modeling, simulation, and training event. As the system continues to develop, it has the potential to make a significant impact on the education of students with disabilities, providing them with the social skills they need to succeed in real-world settings.
Future Directions
The development of the iKNOW system is an exciting step forward in the use of AI and VR technology to support social skills development. As the system continues to evolve, it will be important to consider how it can be integrated into existing educational frameworks, as well as how it can be used to support students with a range of disabilities. The potential for the iKNOW system to be used in conjunction with other technologies, such as augmented reality or machine learning, is also an area worth exploring.
The research team’s commitment to presenting their work at conferences and making the system available to schools and families will help ensure that the iKNOW system reaches its full potential. As the education sector continues to evolve, it is likely that we will see more innovative uses of AI and VR technology to support social skills development, and the iKNOW system will be an important part of this journey. By providing a personalized, natural, and relatable environment for practicing social skills, the iKNOW system has the potential to make a significant impact on the lives of students with disabilities.
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