Safety and Lack of Negative Effects of Wearable Augmented-Reality Social Communication Aid for Children and Adults with Autism

Abstract

There is growing interest in the use of augmented reality (AR) to assist children and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD); however, little investigation has been conducted into the safety of devices for AR such as smartglasses. The objective of this report was to assess the safety and negative effects of the Brain Power Autism System (BPAS), a novel AR smartglasses-based social communication aid for people with ASD. A sequential series of 18 children and adults aged 4.4 to 21.5 years (mean 12.2 years) with clinically diagnosed ASD of varying severity used the BPAS. Users and caregivers were interviewed about perceived negative effects and design concerns. Most users were able to wear and use the BPAS (n=16/18, 89%), with most of them reporting no negative effects (n=14/16, 87.5%). Two users reported temporary negative effects: eye strain, dizziness, and nasal discomfort. Caregivers observed no negative effects in users (n=16/16, 100%). Most users (77.8%) and caregivers (88.9%) had no design concerns. This report found no major negative effects in using an AR smartglasses-based social communication aid across a wide age and severity range of people with ASD. Further research is needed to explore longer-term effects of using AR smartglasses in this population.