Expert: LA Noire would be “quite fascinating” to autistic people

25 May 2011

There are two groups of people who are rubbish at accurately reading other people’s emotional responses – men (Zing! – ed) and those with Asperger syndrome, a form of autism.

There’s no hope for men in general, because it’s probably just a useful tool against hysterical women, but it turns out LA Noire might be able to help out the other bunch a bit.
“Certainly, those with Asperger’s syndrome have great difficulty in identifying such characteristics as they tend to take people and assume others may be as honest as they are,” Professor Tony Attwood, author of The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome, tells Joystiq.

“I think those with Asperger’s syndrome would actually find the game quite fascinating as although the player is expected to make a decision on whether someone may be lying, there is the possibility of reviewing and replaying the scene to confirm whether the response was correct or identify the characteristics should a mistake have been made.”

Attwood suggests that the game could be used to teach Asperger’s sufferers about human interaction, recommending that they play the game with friends or family who can “give feedback and guidance on the characteristics to look for to determine whether someone is lying or not”.

LA Noire investigation and interogation video

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