Play to Say: African XR Gaming for Autism Inclusion

AutismVR is a voice interaction driven virtual reality game for teaching people how to interact with autistic children in Nigeria. We built a first quick prototype of the game for the Oculus Rift, and are now working on a mobile version for the Google Cardboard, a more accessible platform for immersive content in Africa. We share our journey so far, and unpack the lessons learnt creating a culturally relevant and effective game, while integrating NLP (and all the challenges that poses in a non-Western context) in a VR experience, as well as implementing UNICEF’s policy guidance on AI for children.