About this Research Topic
Virtual reality (VR) is on the rise in many areas, even outside the entertainment industry. For people with special educational needs VR can be customized for added benefit; with the help of adapted interfaces, impaired sensory modalities can be supported or replaced by others. On the one hand, interaction interfaces must be created that satisfy the special requirements of the user groups and allow self-determined access to virtual content. On the other hand, applications especially tailored to their needs can help to reduce or even eliminate the restrictions of people with special educational needs.
Navigating spaces, virtual and or natural, is an embodied experience. The mode of traversing natural and virtual spaces, whether physically walking, driving, or using a controller, all include spatial decision-making elements at every step of the journey from origin to the destination. Every human being navigates differently, using a varying set of spatial cues to navigate spaces. There are some perceptions that Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR) is only appropriate for ‘expert gamers’ or ‘tech-savvy’ individuals. Considering the recent uptick in end-user participation in the VR/AR/MR applications arena, it is imperative to have adaptive user content inclusive to a broad mixture of audiences such as the elderly and accessible user interfaces for neurodiverse individuals.
We welcome submissions of Original Research and Reviews on the following, but not limited to, topics:
- Applications that make VR/AR/MR more exciting/appealing to all audiences
- Studies exploring the impact of making VR/AR/MR for all such as, mental wellbeing, education, training, etc.
- User Interfaces for people with special needs
- Adaptive User Experiences for various audiences
- Using VR to reduce/eliminate the restriction of a disability
- Creating Virtual Environments tailored to suit an individual’s spatial orientation capabilities
- Comparing Adaptive User Content across different audiences, i.e. old vs young, experienced gamer vs inexperienced gamer, etc.
Navigating spaces, virtual and or natural, is an embodied experience. The mode of traversing natural and virtual spaces, whether physically walking, driving, or using a controller, all include spatial decision-making elements at every step of the journey from origin to the destination. Every human being navigates differently, using a varying set of spatial cues to navigate spaces. There are some perceptions that Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR) is only appropriate for ‘expert gamers’ or ‘tech-savvy’ individuals. Considering the recent uptick in end-user participation in the VR/AR/MR applications arena, it is imperative to have adaptive user content inclusive to a broad mixture of audiences such as the elderly and accessible user interfaces for neurodiverse individuals.
We welcome submissions of Original Research and Reviews on the following, but not limited to, topics:
- Applications that make VR/AR/MR more exciting/appealing to all audiences
- Studies exploring the impact of making VR/AR/MR for all such as, mental wellbeing, education, training, etc.
- User Interfaces for people with special needs
- Adaptive User Experiences for various audiences
- Using VR to reduce/eliminate the restriction of a disability
- Creating Virtual Environments tailored to suit an individual’s spatial orientation capabilities
- Comparing Adaptive User Content across different audiences, i.e. old vs young, experienced gamer vs inexperienced gamer, etc.
Keywords: disability, special needs, VR, mental wellbeing, user experience, user interface, adaptability
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
