Virtual Reality Music Intervention to Reduce Social Anxiety in Adolescents Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

This project investigates the potentials of Head-MountedDisplay (HMD) based Virtual Reality (VR) that incorporates musical elements as a tool to perform exposure therapy. This is designed to help adolescents diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to deal with their social anxiety. An application was developed that combines the possibility of singing in VR while a virtual audience provides feedback. A pilot test was conducted on four adolescents diagnosed with ASD from a school for adolescents with special needs in Denmark. All four participants had shown signs of social anxiety according to their teachers. The initial results from this pilot study indicate that despite the participants’ were capable of singing in front of the virtual audience without reporting a major level of social anxiety.