Table 1.
Summary of selected contributions (n = 31).
| Contribution | Diagnosis | Groups (Sex)/Age | Aim | Evaluation | Main Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ip et al. [21] 2018 | ASD | EG: 36 (31 M, 5 F) CG: 36 (33 M, 3 F) Age: 7–10 y/o |
Enhance emotional and social adaptation skills. | FT, ET, PEP-3, ABAS-II. | Improvements in children’s emotion expression and regulation and social-emotional reciprocity. |
| Manju et al. [22] 2018 | ASD | EG: 5 CG: - Age: 4–6 y/o |
Enhance social skills, emotions and attention. | Specific scoring criteria based on a Likert scale method. | Improvements in all the participants, but statistical significance is not analyzed. |
| Taryadi and Kurniawan [23] 2018 | ASD | EG: 12 CG: - Age not specified |
Improve communication ability. | Subjective qualitative analysis. | Improvement of communication ability, but statistical significance is not analyzed. |
| Adjorlu et al. [24] 2017 | ASD | EG: 4 CG: 5 Age: 12–15 y/o |
Development of daily living skills (shopping skills) | Task completion time and effectiveness, questionnaires, observations. | Some of the indicators show significant improvement. |
| Lamash et al. [25] 2017 | ASD | EG: 33 (29 M, 4 F) CG: 23 (17 M, 6 F) Age: 11–19 y/o |
Improve the implementation of a shopping task. | WebNeuro, BRIEFSR, and the TOGSS. | Significant improvement of the EG compared to the CG in several indices. |
| Bekele et al. [26] 2016 | HFASD | EG: 6 (6 M) CG: 6 (6 M) Age: 13–17 y/o |
Emotion recognition in a social context. | Isolated emotion recognition test, NEPSY test. | System useful in training core deficit areas for eventual better social functioning. |
| Chen et al. [27] 2016 | ASD | EG: 6 (5 M, 1 F) CG: - Age: 11–13 y/o |
Identify the 6 core emotions. | Specific questions. | All scores rose significantly during the intervention and remained significantly high. |
| Didehbani et al. [28] 2016 | ASD (17) ASD+ADHD (13) |
EG: 30 (26 M, 4 F) CG: - Age: 7–16 y/o |
Enhance social skills. | NEPSY-II, Triangles (Social Attribution Task). | Improvements in emotion recognition, social attribution, and executive function. |
| Ip et al. [29] 2016 | ASD or suspected ASD | EG: 52 CG: - Age: 6–11 y/o |
Enhance emotional and social adaptation skills. | FT, ET, PEP-3. | Emotion recognition: SD in ET. Affective expression: SD. Social reciprocity: SD. Overall SD for PEP-3. |
| Lorenzo et al. [30] 2016 | ASD | EG: 20 (14 M, 6 F) CG: 20 (15 M, 5 F) Age: 7–12 y/o |
Improve emotional skills. | Specific emotional script. Computer vision system to obtain child’s expressions. | Significant improvement in emotional competences. |
| Wade et al. [31] 2016 | ASD | EG: 20 (19 M, 1 F) CG: - Age: 13–18 y/o |
Develop daily living skills (driving). | Physiological and EEG data. Gaze data. Subjective observations. | The system may be beneficial in teaching driving skills. SD in most of the measures. |
| Ke and Lee [32] 2015 | HFASD | EG: 3 CG: - Age: 8–11 y/o |
Social skills development. | Qualitative time-series and micro-behavior analyses. | Practice and develop flexibility, identity, and norm construction. |
| Chen et al. [33] 2015 | ASD | EG: 3 (2 M, 1 F) CG: - Age: 10–13 y/o |
Identify the 6 core emotions. | Correct assessment rates. | SD for all participants. |
| Cheng et al [34] 2015 | ASD | EG: 3 (3 M) CG: - Age: 10–12 y/o |
Improve social understanding and skills. | 2 specific scales: Social events card and social behaviors scale | Improvement in the utilization of reciprocal interactions. |
| Kim et al. [35] 2015 | HFASD | EG: 19 (13 M, 6 F) CG: 23 (16 M, 7 F) Age: 8–16 y/o |
Examining approach and tendencies in the recognition of emotions. | The final joystick position. Test for symptomatology, cognition and emotion. | EG displayed significantly less approach behavior to positive expressions to happiness than CG. |
| Parsons [36] 2015 | ASD | EG: 6 CG: 8 Age: 7–13 y/o |
Collaboration and reciprocity in behavior and communication. | Analysis of collaborative and non-collaborative interactions. | ASD children showed efforts in collaboration and reciprocity of communication. |
| Bai et al. [37] 2015 | ASD or Asperger Syndrome | EG: 12 (10 M, 2 F) CG: - Age: 4–7 y/o |
Representation of pretense and promote pretend play. | Video analysis of play behavior. Parent and participant questionnaire. | Positive effects of elicited pretend play in children with ASD. |
| Bekele et al. [38] 2014 | ASD | EG: 10 (ASD) CG: 10 (TD) Age: 13–17 y/o |
Performance in facial affect recognition.Gaze patterns. | Accuracy, response latency, and ratings of response confidence.Time spent looking at locations. | Similar accuracy at facial recognition. ASD children endorsed lower confidence, and substantial variation in gaze patterns. |
| Escobedo et al. [39] 2014 | LFASD | EG: 12 CG: - Age: 3–8 y/o |
Train selective attention.Elicitation of positive emotions. | System registration of selective and sustained attention, ability to attend the therapy, emotions. | Application seems to increase attention and improve elicitation of positive emotions. |
| Finkelstein et al. [40] 2014 | ASD | EG: 10 CG: - Age: 8–20 y/o |
Improve physical activity and motivation. | Post-experimental questionnaire. Physiological measures. | Children showed vigorous play activity and motivation to repeat the game. |
| Maskey et al. [41] 2014 | ASD with phobia/fear | EG: 9 (9 M)CG: - Age: 7–13 y/o |
Reduction of specific phobia or fear. | SCAS-P and SCAS-C, confident ratings, report of the family, anxiety report and test. | CBT techniques combined with VRE were effective in the treatment of phobia/fear in children with ASD. |
| Stitcher et al. [42] 2014 | ASD | EG: 11 (11 M) CG: - Age: 11–14 y/o |
Enhance social competence in ASD. | SRS, BRIEF, RMET, Faux Pas Stories, Strange Stories, DANVA-2-CF; D-KEFS; CPT-II. | Improvement in social responsiveness and executive functioning skills. |
| Bekele et al. [43] 2013 | HFASD | EG: 10 (8 M, 2 F) CG: 10 (8 M, 2 F) Age: 13–17 y/o |
Evaluate usability.Behavioral and physiological difference. | Performance data, eye tracking indices and physiological features. | Differences in the way adolescents with ASD process and recognize emotional faces compared to their TD peers. |
| Bernardini et al. [44] 2013 | ASD | EG: 19 CG: - Age not specified |
Acquire social communication skills in ASD. | Assessment based on a structured table-top turn-taking activity (social skills). | Game seems to improve few aspects of social skills. |
| Cai et al. [45] 2013 | ASD | EG: 15 (13 M, 2 F) CG: - Age: 6–17 y/o |
Intervention in nonverbal gesturing communication. | TONI-3 and GARS tests. Observation of final task (dolphin training). |
Inconclusive data, no statistical analysis. |
| Fengfeng Ke & Tami Im [46] 2013 | HFASD or Asperger Syndrome | EG: 4 (2 M, 2 F) CG: - Age: 9–10 y/o |
Improve social interaction. | Physical and virtual communication behaviors, SSQ, Perception of Emotion. | Improvement in performance of social tasks after VR intervention. |
| Lorenzo et al. [47] 2013 | Asperger Syndrome | EG: 20 (16 M, 4 F) CG: - Age: 8–15 y/o |
Improve social skills and executive functions. | Interviews (teachers) and assessment of behavior during tasks. | Improvement of executive functions and social skills. Some skills were transferred to school context. |
| Modugumudi et al. [48] 2013 | ASD | EG: 10 (9 M, 1 F) CG: 10 (M) Age: 7–19 y/o |
Recognition and expression of emotions. | Neurophysiological measures pre- & post-treatment: EEG, EOG. | Significant improvement in children with CVE intervention program. |
| Wang & Reid [49] 2013 | ASD | EG: 4 (3 M, 1 F) CG: - Age: 6–8 y/o |
Train contextual processing of objects. | FIST-m, ASS, VR test of contextual processing of objects, final feedback questionnaire. | Improvement in contextual processing of objects and cognitive flexibility. |
| Alcorn et al. [50] 2011 | ASD | EG: 32 (29 M, 3 F) CG: - Age: 5–14 y/o |
Teach children to follow a virtual character’s gaze and gesture cues. | Observational and video data. Reaction time. | Children were able to successfully complete the tasks. Perception of the VR character as an intentional being. |
| Milne et al. [51] 2010 | HFASD or Asperger Syndrome | EG: 14 Age: 6–15 y/o |
Social skills. | Pre-test and post-test questions in each round. | Children gained information about conversation and bullying skills. |
ABAS-II: Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, second edition; ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; ASS: Attention Sustained Subtest; BRIEFSR: Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Self Reported; CG: control group; CBT: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy; CPT-II: Conner’s continuous Performance Test-II; CVE: Collaborative Virtual Environment; DANVA-2-CF: The Diagnostic Analysis of Non-Verbal Accuracy-2, Child Facial expressions; D-KEFS: Delis–Kaplan Executive Functioning System; EEG: Electroencephalography; EG: Experimental Group; EOG: Electrooculography; ET: Eyes Test; F: Female; FIST-m: Flexible Item Selection Task (modified); FT: Faces Test; GARS: Gilliam Autism Rating Scale; h: hour(s); HFASD: High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder; LFASD: Low-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder; M: Male; min: minute(s); NEPSY-II: Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment Second Edition; PEP-3: Psychoeducational Profile, third edition; sec: second(s); RMET: Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test; SD: Significant Difference; sess: session(s); SRS: Social Responsiveness Scale; SSQ: Social Skills Questionnaire; TD: Typically Developing; TOGSS: a performance-based evaluation to assess a shopping task; TONI-3: Test of Nonverbal Intelligence-Third Edition; VRE: Virtual Reality Environment; wk: week(s); y/o: years old.