My name is Taylor Russell and am an undergraduate student studying biology at the University
of Utah. I am sincerely grateful to have received support from the Office of Health Equity and
Inclusion to attend the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) conference in Montreal,
Canada this past May. This conference was unique in that it focused primarily on autism, a health
disparity not yet fully understood by researchers, making each research project there a stride towards
the greater understanding. Currently, individuals with ASD have learning differences that are still
unexplained by researchers so there are limited tools and techniques available directly tailored to
meet their needs. Having an international conference focused on educating and sharing research in
the autism spectrum disorder field is imperative if advancements and discoveries should occur. With
the development of our new virtual reality technology, people with ASD may be able to reduce their
level of anxiety in a fun and enjoyable way.
Working as an interdisciplinary cohort, professionals across the University of Utah
collaborated to present my project during the conference. This research used a virtual reality (VR)
game called Choreografish, which was developed with students with ASD enrolled in NeuroVersity,
a technology education program. Choreografish was set up along with my research poster to give
conference attendees a chance to test the game’s abilities and experience firsthand how soothing the
underwater world of VR could be. Choreografish managed to catch the eye of the local Montreal
news station, resulting in our project being featured on CTV News Montreal:
https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/international-autism-researchers-put-their-technology-on-display-at-m
ontreal-conference-1.4408334?fbclid=IwAR0fJuGbbPVuYn2uLwCeqPNFfsExfckb6rv8IuDkIL-xs
KylYH6ZmvSkRIA
Overall, it was an amazing experience to present our new findings while also
gaining feedback, potential collaborations and new resource opportunities that could potentially help
broaden the research project.