By Søren Mølgaard, AAU Communication and Public Affairs

When a volunteer had a great idea

It all began long before he entered the world of research. More specifically in Nørrebro. As a volunteer in Danish Red Cross Youth at the drop-in centre Plexus, Ali Adjorlu became acquainted with lonely and socially challenged young people.

"I met many young people who had difficulty navigating social situations in the real world, but who were often good at creating relationships through computer games," he says.

That experience planted a seed when Ali finished his Master's degree at Aalborg University: Could his background in Medialogy be used to create safe, virtual training spaces for children and young people who needed a different way into a community?

The answer was the start of a PhD, and of a research career dedicated to strengthening well-being and development through VR.

Security makes room for learning

Today, Ali Adjorlu is an associate professor at Aalborg University. His research at the Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology is on the use of VR as a means of training both the mind and the body.

"Research shows that gradual exposure in VR can reduce anxiety about situations that would otherwise be avoided in the real world" Ali Adjorlu explains, and elaborates: "VR-based training can act as a bridge: you can practice in a safe, virtual environment, and the positive experience can make it easier for you to face the challenge in real life."

In addition, VR offers a completely different degree of presence.

"In VR, the body is very much a part of the experience. You move, you can make eye contact, and you experience being present in the virtual world."

Potential in extraordinary brains

Through his volunteer work, Ali Adjorlu saw that children and youth who have difficulty navigating real life have a different sense of control and security in the world of computer games.

For the researcher, it was therefore a no-brainer to bring reality into the polygon-based 3D world where young people can process it on their own terms.

Ali’s work explores this idea through several research projects and experiments with VR interventions that show promising results.

For example, he has done VR training of public transport, VR training of classroom teaching, VR training of shopping and VR training of cleaning in the home.

These everyday tasks may seem simple, but for neurodivergent children and youth, the complexity of reality can be overwhelming. It is thus advantageous for them to practice the situation in an environment where you can lower the difficulty level and block out some of the noise, Ali explains.

Neurodivergence describes characteristics of brain function that differ from what is considered common or neurotypical. It is an umbrella term that includes, for example, autism, dyslexia and ADHD.

Plenty of research awaits

With these VR interventions, the ambition of the researcher is to give children with challenges a training tool that allows them to try out unfamiliar surroundings in a fun, safe and educational way. A consequence-free environment where children's curiosity leads the way.

"For technologies like VR to become a real solution in the coming years requires a strong interdisciplinary research effort where media technologists work closely with psychologists, learning researchers, special needs educators and communication researchers," Ali explains.

According to Ali Adjorlu, the research will refine the VR environments so that they actually reflect the challenges children face in everyday life, and identify how different types of everyday challenges can best be met.

"In addition, it is important to document the effect through systematic studies and use the results in the next versions of the VR solutions. The goal of VR is not to replace professionals, but to give them an extra, safe and flexible tool in their work with children and young people who are not thriving," the researcher states.

Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs