Shared Boundary Interfaces: can one fit all? A controlled study on virtual reality vs touch-screen interfaces on persons with Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Francesco Vona, Eleonora Beccaluva, Marco Mores, Franca Garzotto
TL;DR
The paper investigates whether virtual reality (VR) or touchscreen tablet interfaces are more effective for food education in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). It introduces GEA, a dual-interface educational game enabling immersive VR or non-immersive tablet use, and evaluates learning gains over a three-week period via pre/post questionnaires in a randomized controlled design. Results show substantial learning improvements overall (approximately a 46% post-test increase), with VR and Tablet groups achieving 42% and 41% gains respectively and no significant difference between modalities, suggesting both interfaces are viable for NDD education. The study highlights that interface choice can be guided by learning objectives and user needs rather than assuming VR is universally superior, and it identifies future work to broaden content, extend evaluation, and explore subgroups that may benefit more from VR.
Abstract
Technology presents a significant educational opportunity, particularly in enhancing emotional engagement and expanding learning and educational prospects for individuals with Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDD). Virtual reality emerges as a promising tool for addressing such disorders, complemented by numerous touchscreen applications that have shown efficacy in fostering education and learning abilities. VR and touchscreen technologies represent diverse interface modalities. This study primarily investigates which interface, VR or touchscreen, more effectively facilitates food education for individuals with NDD. We compared learning outcomes via pre- and post-exposure questionnaires. To this end, we developed GEA, a dual-interface, user-friendly web application for Food Education, adaptable for either immersive use in a head-mounted display (HMD) or non-immersive use on a tablet. A controlled study was conducted to determine which interface better promotes learning. Over three sessions, the experimental group engaged with all GEA games in VR (condition A), while the control group interacted with the same games on a tablet (condition B). Results indicated a significant increase in post-questionnaire scores across subjects, averaging a 46% improvement. This enhancement was notably consistent between groups, with VR and Tablet groups showing 42% and 41% improvements, respectively.