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The use of virtual reality (VR) technologies in the education of autistic children has been a focus of research for over two decades. It is argued that this form of technology can provide authentic “real world” contexts that target social and life skills training in safe, controllable and repeatable virtual environments. The development of affordable VR head-mounted displays (HMD), such as Google cardboard and Oculus Rift, has seen a renewed interest in their use for a wide range of applications, including the education of autistic individuals. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A systematic search of electronic databases focussing on empirical studies on the use of VR-HMD for children and adults on the autism spectrum was undertaken.

A review of the literature identified a limited number of studies in this field characterised by differences in the type of application, technology used and participant characteristics.

Whilst there are some grounds for optimism, more research is needed on the use of this technology within educational settings to ensure robust recommendations can be made on the implementation, use and sustainability of this approach.

This paper is the first to consider the evidence base for the use of VR-HMD technology to support the needs of the autistic population.

Augmented reality (AR) has become one of the most promising technologies in construction since it can seamlessly connect the physical construction environment and virtual contents. In view of the recent research efforts, this study attempts to summarize the latest research achievements and inform future development of AR in construction.

The review was conducted in three steps. First, a keyword search was adopted, and 546 papers were found from Scopus and Web of Science. Second, each paper was screened based on the selection criteria, and a final set of 69 papers was obtained. Third, specific AR applications and the associated technical details were extracted from the 69 papers for further analysis.

The review shows that: (1) design assessment, process monitoring and maintenance management and operation were the most frequently cited AR applications in the design, construction, and operation stages, respectively; (2) information browser and tangible interaction were more frequently adopted than collaborative interaction and hybrid interaction; and (3) AR has been integrated with BIM, computer vision, and cloud computing for enhanced functions.

The contributions of this study to the body of knowledge are twofold. First, this study extends the understanding of AR applications in the construction setting. Second, this study identifies possible improvements in the design and development of AR systems in order to leverage their benefits to construction.

The American Library Association views privacy as essential to the exercise of free speech, free thought, and free association. Many libraries have written policies designed to preserve the privacy of patrons and visitors. Statements of intentions to preserve privacy are important as guides to the behavior of library personnel. This article looks at the problems associated with privacy in libraries.

The purpose of this paper is to report on developments and applications of mixed reality cubicles and their impacts on learning in higher education. This paper investigates and presents the cost effective application of augmented reality (AR) as a mixed reality technology via or to mobile devices such as head-mounted devices, smart phones and tablets. Discuss the development of mixed reality applications for mobile (smartphones and tablets) devices leading up to the implementation of a mixed reality cubicle for immersive three dimensional (3D) visualizations.

The approach adopted was to limit the considerations to the application of AR via mobile platforms including head-mounted devices with focus on smartphones and tablets, which contain basic feedback–to-user channels such as speakers and display screens. An AR visualization cubicle was jointly developed and applied by three collaborating institutions. The markers, acting as placeholders acts as identifiable reference points for objects being inserted in the mixed reality world. Hundreds of participants comprising academics and students from seven different countries took part in the studies and gave feedback on impact on their learning experience.

Results from current study show less than 30 percent had used mixed reality environments. This is lower than expected. About 70 percent of participants were first time users of mixed reality technologies. This indicates a relatively low use of mixed reality technologies in education. This is consistent with research findings reported that educational use and research on AR is still not common despite their categorization as emerging technologies with great promise for educational use.

Current research has focused mainly on cubicles which provides immersive experience if used with head-mounted devices (goggles and smartphones), that are limited by their display/screen sizes. There are some issues with limited battery lifetime for energy to function, hence the need to use rechargeable batteries. Also, the standard dimension of cubicles does not allow for group visualizations. The current cubicle has limitations associated with complex gestures and movements involving two hands, as one hand are currently needed for holding the mobile phone.

The use of mixed reality cubicles would allow and enhance information visualization for big data in real time and without restrictions. There is potential to have this extended for use in exploring and studying otherwise inaccessible locations such as sea beds and underground caves. Social implications – Following on from this study further work could be done to developing and application of mixed reality cubicles that would impact businesses, health and entertainment.

The originality of this paper lies in the unique approach used in the study of developments and applications of mixed reality cubicles and their impacts on learning. The diverse composition in nature and location of participants drawn from many countries comprising of both tutors and students adds value to the present study. The value of this research include amongst others, the useful results obtained and scope for developments in the future.

Evacuation drills should be more realistic and interactive. Focusing on situational and audio-visual realities and scenario-based interactivity, the authors have developed a game-based evacuation drill (GBED) system that presents augmented reality (AR) materials on tablet computers. The paper's current research purpose is to improve visual reality (AR materials) in our GBED system.

The author's approach is to develop a new GBED system that superimposes digital objects [e.g. three-dimensional computer graphics (3DCG) elements] onto real-time vision using a marker-based AR library, a binocular opaque head-mounted display (HMD) and other current easily available technologies.

The findings from a trial experiment are that the new GBED system can improve visual reality and is appropriate for disaster education. However, a few problems remain for practical use.

When using the GBED system, participants (i.e. HMD wearers) can suffer from 3D sickness and have difficulty in moving. These are important safety problems in HMD-based systems.

The combination of AR and HMDs for GBEDs (i.e. integrating virtual and real worlds) will raise questions about its merits (pros and cons).

The originality of the research is the combination of AR and an HMD to a GBED, which has previously been realized primarily as simulation games in virtual worlds. The authors believe that our research has the potential to expand disaster education.

Virtual Reality (VR) refers to the computer generation of realistic three‐dimensional artificial worlds in which humans, typically equipped with head‐mounted 3D displays, interactive gloves and even whole‐body suits, can be ‘immersed’, and are free to explore and interact with graphical objects in real time, using such natural skills as looking from different angles, moving, pointing, grasping, listening and talking. The early history behind the emergence of VR is short and incredibly intense and characterized by a small group of familiar names. As one of the key figures, Myron Krueger has described it, ‘…Like particles in a fission reaction, personnel from one project disband and reappear with new affiliations’. That reaction continues today, with a reproduction of the American experience in Europe.

Virtual reality (VR) has recently become established as a suite of technologies capable of serving many companies′ future needs in design practice, training and organizational communication. Two years after the launch of a major British collaborative project involving 17 blue‐chip companies, VR is set to become adopted by many as their “information technology of choice” for the next century – some even aiming to establish in‐house facilities before the end of 1996. Proposes that, properly implemented, VR is capable of giving personnel at all company levels, who have a wide variety of educational backgrounds or skills, intuitive access to complex, computer‐mediated processes. Discusses some of the practical solutions to a commercially‐driven selection of demonstrator projects, while attempting to dispel some of the myths associated with VR, such as the necessity to don head‐mounted displays and instrumented gloves.

Currently, the results of database acquisition are variously expressed, but it seems that users’ understanding degree will be improved by expressing some search results such as images of products of shopping sites in three dimensions rather than two dimensions. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a system for automatically generating 3D virtual museum that arranges 3D objects with various layouts from the acquisition result of relation database by SuperSQL query.

The study extended the SuperSQL to generate 3D virtual reality museum using declarative queries on relational data stored in a database.

This system made it possible to generate various three-dimensional virtual spaces with different layouts through simple queries.

It can be said that this system is useful in that a complicated three-dimensional virtual space can be generated by describing a simple query and a different three-dimensional virtual space can be generated by slightly changing the query or database content. When creating a virtual museum, if there are too many exhibitions or when changing the layout, the burden on the user will be high. But in this system, it is possible to automatically generate various virtual museums easily and reduce the burden on users.

This study aims to investigate “immersive reading,” which occurs when individuals read text while in a virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) environment.

In Experiment 1, 64 participants read text passages and answered multiple-choice questions in VR and AR head-mounted displays (HMDs) compared with doing the same task on liquid crystal display (LCD). In Experiment 2, 31 participants performed the same reading tasks but with two VR HMDs of different display quality.

Compared with reading on LCD as the baseline, participants reading in VR and AR HMDs got 82% (VR) and 88% (AR) of the information accurately. Participants tended to respond more accurately and faster, though not statistically significant, with the VR HMD of higher pixel density in the speed-reading task.

The authors observed the speed and accuracy of reading in VR and AR environments, compared with the reading speed and accuracy on an LCD monitor. The authors also compared the reading performance on two VR HMDs that differed in display quality but were otherwise similar in every way.

The potential of head mounted displays based virtual reality (HMD-based VR) for autistic groups has been well documented. However, the deployment and application of this technology, especially in schools, has been extremely limited. One of the main criticisms in this field has been the lack of involvement from practitioners in research on educational approaches for autistic populations and the gap between research and practice in real-life settings.

This conceptual article focuses on our research in a UK-based special needs school that sought to examine the effects and potential use of VR-HMDs, while seeking to establish best practices for safe and ethical application using this technology. This draws upon ethical and participatory research guidance, including British Educational Research Association and Autism Participatory Research.

The authors make recommendations on planning and implementing a participatory, safe and ethical approach to researching the use of VR-HMDs in special needs schools and engaging with the priorities of autistic children and young people and their teachers.

This conceptual article provides an initial first consideration of ways we can better include autistic people and their views in research that is with and about them. The value in this will mean we are able to better support autistic groups moving ahead using VR HMD-based technologies. Without this paradigm shift and including autistic people (and their stakeholders) the field might continue to build initiatives around medical-based models of disabilities rather that what the community need/want.