Design insights into embedding virtual reality content into life skills training for people with intellectual disability

This paper presents some lessons learnt from the co-creation, within a support organisation, of a virtual world dedicated to practicing life skills for people with intellectual disability. The progression of the project throughout successive stages has indicated what people would want to see and practice in a such a virtual world, which would not have been found after a single development iteration. These desires include the representation of public spaces, social interactions and disruptions. Based on initial trials, we propose some new design insights for further implementation of such virtual worlds in training sessions with the use of immersive headsets. While immersive headsets have been demonstrated to enhance the learning experience, they also visually isolate the person in training from the trainer. To overcome this isolation, a new design concept is presented which allows the teacher to communicate, using gestures, with the immersed student.