AR Technology Potential for Facilitating Access to Advanced Education for Students with ASD

Abstract

Abstract Facilitating access to advanced education and research is the mission of a proactive and future-oriented university. The university must also direct its attention to categories with disabilities such as students with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders). For this purpose, Augmented Reality (AR) can be used through applications that offer different types of support, as well as learning robotization processes. Students with ASD have diverse intellectual potential and can significantly contribute to scientific progress. It is important that universities recognize the intellectual potential and talent of students with ASD and provide appropriate support and accessibility to develop their skills and achieve their academic and research performance. Throughout this paper, we aimed to point out aspects of critical importance from these categories: conceptual and practical evolution, influencing factors, advantages and difficulties, perspectives but also risks regarding the lack of action in this direction. This work integrates qualitative literature review research with empirical research. The literature analysis section highlights the extent to which universities provide adaptation and orientation facilities in new spaces, taking into account the difficulty of people with ASD to adjust to unfamiliar spaces. We will present, both based on the literature and from the practice of the field at a global level, the technologies and platforms used in the development of AR applications for orientation in space. The research conclusions have an impact towards at least three directions: 1. Scientific impact, respectively enriching the specialized literature with new perspectives transmitted in a clear, concise and targeted manner; 2. Applicative impact, increasing the potential of implementing innovations in this field; as well as 3. Informative impact on the general public, which contributes to broadening the spectrum of knowledge but also to strengthening the image in the local community of the efforts made by researchers in this revolutionary field of AR.