Research

Over the last decade, several research studies have been conducted using this tool to assess its objective impact on the development of the skills it is intended to address.

The first studies were carried out as part of two doctoral theses.

Mademtzi's thesis (2016), conducted in the United Kingdom, explored the impact on improving the sensorimotor skills of children with autism. Five children from a group of nine boys and one girl with autism and sensorimotor difficulties who attended autism classrooms participated in the study, receiving 20 fifteen-minute intervention sessions (two per week). All five children in the intervention group improved their sensorimotor skills. The improvement was observed in the classroom using Pictogram Rooms but also generalized to the other three environments observed, especially physical education. Of the three areas assessed, the children showed the most improvement in motor planning (supported by quantitative data) and body awareness (supported by qualitative data) compared to balance.

The second doctoral thesis (Pérez-Fuster, 2017) was conducted in Spain and included a study using Pictogram Room, which was subsequently published in a specialized scientific journal (Pérez-Fuster et al., 2022). This study focused on the use of the Eye Pointing game to improve eye-tracking and pointing skills (as part of joint attention). The participants were six autistic children between the ages of 3 and 8 (two of whom also had ADHD) who attended a specialized autism classroom in a mainstream primary school. The study was conducted over 12 weeks and included a pre-assessment session, three sessions to familiarize participants with Pictogram Room, six Pictogram Room intervention sessions (three sessions per week), and two post-assessment sessions, one at the end of the intervention and another one month later. Each session lasted 15 minutes. The results showed that Pictogram Room was effective in improving the gaze-tracking and pointing skills of all six participants. When the Pictogram Room intervention was introduced in each group, participants' scores showed a positive change due to an increased percentage of correct responses not only in the video game but also in the assessment test with real-world objects. This improvement was maintained one month after the intervention ended.

More recently, a larger study was conducted within the framework of an Erasmus+ research project called ARBIT, short for “Augmented Reality for Body Schema, Pointing and Imitation Training in Autism.” The effect of five games (1. Moving; 2. Parts of my body; 3. Puzzles; 4. Learning to point; and 5. Imitating in parts) on the body recognition, imitation, and joint attention skills of children with autism and intellectual disabilities from Spain, Bulgaria, and Turkey was evaluated. Twenty-three participants, aged 7 to 14, used the games with the support of their regular teachers at their respective schools, during 27 sessions of 15 to 20 minutes each. The results indicated that the children significantly improved their skills after the intervention with Pictogram Room. The study was recently published in a journal recognized for its high methodological standards (Pérez-Fuster et al., 2025).

In the latest study, the previous one was replicated, expanding the number of games to include the one used in Pérez-Fuster's (2017) thesis, "Pointing with the Eyes," and emphasizing the inclusive approach to using this tool at every stage. In a school, six children with autism and/or intellectual disabilities, aged 6 to 14, used the games for 10 sessions of 5 to 15 minutes each. The results indicated that the children improved their body awareness, imitation, and joint attention skills within an inclusive intervention framework. This study will be published soon in a specialized book by Springer.