Springer When VR Serious Games Meet Special Needs Education: Research, Development and Their Applications (Gaming Media and Social Effects)

This book presents selected research and development on virtual reality (VR) and serious games (SG) applications to assist children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in their learning of different skills. Children with ASD have challenges to learn skills of learning, living, and working, due to their cognitive and behavioral limitations. The authors and their research teams of this book have many years’ research experience developing innovative and interactive VR and SG technology for the special needs education. More specifically, several VR serious games are designed to train children with ASD on learning skill, life skill, and job skill. Such games are often developed based on the needs of special education and used by special needs schools in Singapore. This book is a useful resource for students, scholars, and designers of learning material who want to embrace VR and SG for children with ASD. From the Back Cover This book presents selected research and development on virtual reality (VR) and serious games (SG) applications to assist children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in their learning of different skills. Children with ASD have challenges to learn skills of learning, living, and working, due to their cognitive and behavioral limitations. The authors and their research teams of this book have many years’ research experience developing innovative and interactive VR and SG technology for the special needs education. More specifically, several VR serious games are designed to train children with ASD on learning skill, life skill, and job skill. Such games are often developed based on the needs of special education and used by special needs schools in Singapore. This book is a useful resource for students, scholars, and designers of learning material who want to embrace VR and SG for children with ASD. About the Author Dr. Yiyu Cai is Tenured Faculty with Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. In NTU, he heads the Strategic Research Program of VR & Soft Computing and is also Deputy Director of NTU’s Center of Augmented & Virtual Reality. Currently, he is leading a team in NTU developing virtual & augmented reality technology to enhance learning. Over the last two decades, Prof. Cai has been doing R&D in virtual & augmented reality, serious games, artificial intelligence, and their applications in education. His research has been supported by Singapore’s National Research Foundation, Temasek Trust Funded Singapore Millennium Foundation, Ministry of Education, and many other public and private sectors. He has co-invented 6 international patents and published 6 books and over 150 technical articles in peer-reviewed journals and leading international conferences. He has organized more than 20 international conferences and has given nearly 60 keynote or invited speeches in many countries including France, Hollands, and Japan. He was Former President of The International Simulation and Gaming Association. Dr. Qi Cao is Assistant Professor with the School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, Singapore campus. He obtained his Ph.D. from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, in 2007. He obtained his Bachelor of Engineering degree from Huazhong University of Science & Technology (HUST), China, in 2000. He has many years’ research experiences and is the first inventor of 2 US patents granted. His research interests include virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and signal processing.