Swimming with dolphins can be dangerous for both the participant and the dolphin, particularly if the swimmer is a child with autism. A newly designed virtual world instead enables children with autism to become dolphin trainers, teaching them to use gestures to elicit flips and leaps.

This innovative environment may help teach children to communicate, according to a study published in the March issue of IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

Stories of children with autism blossoming after interacting with animals make for heartwarming tales. And these tales have spurred countless interventions based on animal therapy, most of which have little scientific evidence supporting their claims.

Of these, none has been more critiqued than dolphin-assisted therapy. The criticisms include the high cost (one company markets a $2,200, five-day session), risk of infection and injury, and the fact that the dolphins used are often endangered species.

What’s more, there are no rigorous studies showing the benefits of swimming with dolphins for children with autism.

To create a safe testing environment for the children, researchers at Nanyang Techological University in Singapore have built a room with a 320-degree screen that gives children the illusion that they are standing poolside at a dolphinarium. The children are immersed in a seamless three-dimensional (3D) world and can hear water splashing and dolphin cries.

The room is outfitted with kinect sensors, which detect gestures and spoken commands, allowing the children to virtually enter this world. Certain hand gestures trigger dolphin behaviors, such as swimming or leaping. And unlike the real world, in which the dolphins have a limited repertoire, the virtual dolphins can be ‘trained’ to respond to as many gestures as the researchers think might be useful.

In the study, 15 children with autism, ranging from 6 to 17 years — including 7 children who cannot speak — explored the room after having first watched a video of a live dolphin trainer. The pilot study explored only the children’s reactions, but the controlled character of the room will allow more rigorous studies of its effects, the researchers say.

The children had mixed reactions to the experience. Six of the children, including two with severe symptoms, played the game with little to no coaching and seemed to enjoy the experience. That suggests that the intervention is not just for children with mild symptoms.

But the other nine children found the dolphinarium overwhelming. Four of the children were not able to participate and another five needed a lot of encouragement.

The children seemed particularly frightened by the 3D glasses, which are adult-sized and have side panels to block out the light. Improvements to the room could include a 3D projection method that does not require glasses, the researchers suggest.

The researchers plan to test whether the experience improves communication for children with autism. The dolphinarium could also help teach children practical communicative gestures or sign language, or to interact with each other
in group sessions.  

I wonder if the same technology could be used as a video game — turning children’s already comfortable homes into a place where they can ‘talk to fish,’ even if only virtually.