Suggestions
Our pilot study in the summer of 2017 resulted in a number of helpful tips
for implementing Floreo VR with students.
Equipment:
- Swivel chair used on carpet, allows for Player (seated in chair) to turn around but not slide across the room.
- In the Floreo/CTC pilot study: the students who had difficulty with the headset on the first day of the study were kids with motor challenges. Strategies the school used (or considered):
- Modeling. Another child used a VR headset while the target student watched the iPad and the child with the headset. After that, the target student was accepting of the headset.
- A staff member sat in front of the student at eye level. While the student was wearing the headset, she gave him tactile support, holding his hands lightly and at the same time, gave him verbal support, just by talking to him. It seems to have let that student know where he was in space.
- She suggested a weighted blanket might be helpful for grounding some kids.
- Another child held a preferred object (in his case, rainbow blocks) in his hands as he did the VR. Every once in awhile, he peeked out of the headset to check the blocks. She suggested that one of the students might benefit from holding one of his stuffed animals that he likes.
- The staff allowed one of the students to start with the Xylophone module in Floreo. Staff thought that this was a much more direct and therefore effective cause/effect experience for at least this one student. She felt that this could help kids acclimate to the VR situation much more quickly and allow them to understand that they had some agency over the environment. (Floreo has worked cause/effect into an early joint attention lesson, but it is not as immediate as it is in the Xylophone module). Another staff member noted that the student who used the Xylophone suddenly became very dynamic.
- Staff also moved the swivel chair (slowly) if a student wasn't moving so that the student would know that whole body movement affected his/her view.
- IPD Adjustment: The IPD (Interpupillary Distance) adjustment is made by moving the small plastic knobs on the top of the headset. It affects whether the image on the iPhone screen is comfortably viewable by the User. If the IPD is not set properly, the User will have difficulty focusing both eyes to look at the screen and could end up with a “cross-eyed” view. If the User frequently removes the headset, it could be that the IPD knobs are not set properly.
Questionnaires:
- If pre- and post- check tests are used, the Players will likely need more training on the tools.
- Asking about dizziness is in part assessed by “Do you feel steady on your feet?” This could be taught using a balance board.
- “Is your vision clear?” could be taught using blurry/funny glasses.
- This question only works if the Player has clear vision typically. If vision is regularly blurry, all pictures will look blurry.Post check should occur after the hand eye coordination task.
- Post check should occur after the Player stands up, so they can gauge how steady on their feet they feel.
Towards generalization:
- Suggestion from the staff at the school in New Jersey was to facilitate generalization by conducting a follow up activity after the VR lesson, where the Player could practice the skill in real life using toy animals, closely replicating
