Virtually Employable
Inactive
STUDY OVERVIEW
SUMMARY
In Canada, many people with intellectual disability (ID) remain unemployed despite contributing to workplaces through reliability, stability, and productivity. We conducted a scoping review of studies up to May 2025 on the use of VR/AR for vocational training in this population. We identified 7 publications describing 6 applications across immersive VR, non-immersive VR, and AR. These targeted tasks such as supermarket work, barista training, food preparation, horticulture, and workplace social skills, leveraging strengths like repetition, realistic simulation, and adaptive prompting.
KEY FINDINGS
Although VR shows promise, this is a small and underdeveloped area of research. Most applications were early-stage and focused on feasibility rather than long-term outcomes. While some studies showed improved task performance, none examined on-the-job outcomes or employment. Many of the studies we excluded had either unclear inclusion of ID populations, focused on autism exclusively, or used VR/AR for pre-employment interview training.
PUBLICATIONS
PARTNERS
