Owing to the increasing dynamics and complexity of construction tasks, workers often need to memorize a big amount of engineering information prior to the operations, such as spatial orientations and operational procedures. The working memory development, as a result, is critical to the performance and safety of many construction tasks. This study investigates how the format of engineering information affects human working memory based on a human-subject Virtual Reality (VR) experiment (n=90). A VR model was created to simulate a pipe maintenance task. First, participants were asked to review the task procedures in one of the following formats, including 2D isometric drawings, 3D model, and VR model. After the review session, participants were asked to perform the pipe maintenance task in the virtual environment based on their working memory. The operation accuracy and time were used as the key performance indicators of the working memory development. The experiment results indicate that the 3D and VR groups outperformed the 2D group in both operation accuracy and time, suggesting that a more immersive instruction leads to a better working memory. A further examination finds that the 2D group presented a significantly higher level of intrinsic cognitive load and extraneous cognitive load in the working memory development compared to the 3D and VR groups, indicating that different engineering information formats can cause different levels of cognitive load in working memory development, and ultimately affect the final performance. The findings are expected to inspire the design of intelligent information systems that adapt to the cognitive load of construction workers for improved working memory development.
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First Responders’ Spatial Working Memory of Large-Scale Buildings: Implications of Information Format
In emergency events, first responders often have to build an accurate spatial working memory of unfamiliar spaces in a short time period. This study investigates the impact of information format on first responders’ short-term spatial memory of large-scale spaces via a human-subject experiment (n=63). A virtual model was created to simulate a real building on Texas A&M University campus. A total of 28 building components were modified in the virtual model. Participants were asked to review the virtual model with one of the three methods: 2D drawing, 3D model, and VR model. After the review session, the participants were sent to the real building to identify the discrepancies, and accuracy was documented as the performance measure. The results reveal that the 3D and VR groups both significantly outperformed the 2D group in spatial working memory. This study sets the foundation to further understand how instructional information affects the performance of first responders in emergency response.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1937878
- PAR ID:
- 10152104
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ASCE International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering 2019
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 154 to 161
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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