Recommendations for Developing Immersive Virtual Reality Serious Game for Autism: Insights From a Systematic Literature Review

The use of serious games for the treatment of people with autism is currently considered a promising approach due to its positive effects on promoting learning through playful and motivating experiences. In recent years, increased research has focused on serious games utilizing Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) technologies, such as large-scale projection-based systems and head-mounted displays. The high level of immersion provided by IVR has been found to benefit learning outcomes, as it reduces environmental distractions and helps individuals focus on learning tasks while also addressing social anxiety. Researchers have conducted significant work in this field over the past decade, yielding promising results. However, the development of these learning interventions comes with methodological challenges and issues, especially in how to conduct the development process and design IVR-based serious games for the learning of people with autism. Based on these premises, this systematic review thoroughly analyzes the literature on developing IVR-based serious games for individuals with autism, discussing inherent shortcomings and reflecting on them. Then, twenty IVR-based serious games for people with autism developed between 2009 and mid-2021 are selected and analyzed, focusing on the people engaged in the development process, the design methodology adopted, and the serious game design framework employed. From this analysis, a set of recommendations are proposed to support anyone interested in developing IVR-based serious games for people with autism. In addition, the gaps left unsolved in the autism literature are highlighted, upon which a research agenda is grounded.