Abstract
Head-mounted display (HMD)–based virtual reality (VR) applications can potentially facilitate various visualization-intensive tasks in the construction industry, such as design and constructability review. However, the lack of quantitative validation on the theoretical benefits of VR has impeded its industry implementation. This paper designed four construction design review-related tasks and performed user tests with 24 construction engineering novices and 24 industry experts. Participants were randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, performing four tasks via HMD-based VR or desktop-based VR, respectively. Experimental results and statistical analysis show that users’ performance was significantly enhanced by the HMD in detecting design errors and planning for construction sequence. The scale of performance improvement varied from 18.22% to 59.01%. The implementation of HMD-based VR applications should be intentional because its benefits are only significant in specific use cases. The intellectual contribution of this paper includes quantifying the impact of HMD to the tested VR applications and developing the technology assessment framework. Meanwhile, the findings from this paper can facilitate the implementation of effective VR applications in the construction industry.
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Data Availability Statements
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. [Available data sets include (1) the test-bed model for HMD-based VR; (2) the test-bed model for desktop-based VR; and (3) the scores of users in each task.]
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the Construction Industry Institute (CII). The conclusions herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of CII. The authors would like to thank the industry members part of Research Team TC-02 for their insights, input, and guidance throughout the development of this research.
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Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 147 • Issue 6 • June 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jun 13, 2020
Accepted: Dec 23, 2020
Published online: Mar 25, 2021
Published in print: Jun 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Aug 25, 2021
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