Conversational Virtual Humans on 360-Degree Virtual Sites: Guiding Students on a Site Visit to a Mechanical Room
Publication: Construction Research Congress 2022
ABSTRACT
Effective communication is essential for students in construction management and relevant fields. Nevertheless, very little emphasis on communication practices has been placed in the construction management curriculum, and limited communication skills are still widely found among students. Ideal construction site visits not only supplement traditional learning in the classrooms but also provide opportunities to communicate with professionals onsite. However, challenges exist that limit the application of site visits and ultimately reduce such opportunities to practice communication skills with experts on the jobsites. This research aims to help overcome the barriers by proposing a novel approach that leverages 360-degree digital sites with virtual human as conversational partners on site (iVisit-Communicate). In this paper, the design and development processes of iVisit-Communicate were described in detail, followed by a case study of its implementation on a digital site visit to a mechanical room. It was found that most students agreed that iVisit-Communicate provided them an opportunity to practice communication skills.
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Construction Research Congress 2022
Pages: 140 - 149
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Published online: Mar 7, 2022
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