Virtual Reality Games as a Tool for Social Skills Support in Autistic Children: A Conceptual Framework

Autistic children may struggle to access common opportunities for social engagement. Immersive environments, such as head-mounted displays, offer a promising tool to address this challenge by fostering opportunities for social interaction and inclusive leisure activities for autistic people and their families. Despite its potential, the capacity of commercial VR games to foster social skills remains uncertain. This study proposes a framework for identifying VR games that can achieve this goal and outlines a pilot test involving autistic and allistic children The results revealed that VR interactions can support the practice of social skills, particularly through simpler and more cooperative games. However, usability challenges, including complicated controls and unclear instructions, were observed. The findings emphasize the importance of elements of game design, such as simplified controls, clear instructions, and affordances that support cooperative modes of play, to maximize the social benefits of VR. This research provides insights into using VR games as tools for enhancing social skills in autistic children. Future research should focus on improving accessibility in VR technologies to enable the participation of all users and foster social competence.