Collaborative Virtual Environment Technology for People With Autism

[[abstract]]This paper focuses on an investigation of Collaborative Virtual Environment (CVE) technology for people with autism, paying particular attention to the use of avatar representations of emotions. A prima facie case for a CVE technological approach is developed, which argues that CVE offers great potential benefits for people with autism. An empirical study of people with autism using a simulated CVE system has been carried out. Results suggest that, on the whole, the participants were able to recognise and operate the avatar representations when communicating via the CVE syste