Traditional lectures have difficulties instilling pragmatic skills in construction engineering students due to the inability to illuminate the complexities within the human-robot collaborative construction environment. While on-site can acclimatize construction students to reality and construct knowledge that can solve safety challenges, it is challenging to organize on-site training trips owing to the dangerous nature of construction workplaces. This research aimed to explore virtual reality (VR) as a tool to enhance students’ perception and knowledge of construction robotic safety. For this purpose, the study developed a virtual training platform for providing construction engineering students with safety knowledge on interacting with simulated robots within the virtual environment of construction sites. A self-assessment approach was leveraged among 20 recruited students to demonstrate the efficacy of students’ engagement and learning outcomes from the proposed learning approach over the traditional learning approach. Results indicated a statistical difference in students’ learning outcomes and engagement levels between the developed approach and the traditional approach. Findings demonstrated the implications of VR as an experiential tool to enhance the students’ learning of robotic safety in construction.
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This content will become publicly available on June 3, 2025
Virtual Construction Safety Training System: How Does it Relate to and Affect Users' Emotions?
The construction industry is witnessing an increasing adoption of virtual reality (VR) technology for training and education purposes. Given this trend, it becomes essential to critically investigate the impact it has on learners, especially when compared to traditional paper-based learning method. In this paper, the authors developed a close-to-reality virtual system using the Unity3D game engine. Participants engage in learning safety protocols, operating a virtual crane, and assembling a steel structure within this environment. Corresponding paper-based instructional materials were also developed for comparison. The study involved 16 participants who were randomly assigned to either the VR training or the traditional paper-based training, their brainwaves data were recorded through electroencephalography (EEG) headset during the training progress to assess their emotions. Results show that an individual is most likely to experience exciting emotions when they are training in the VR system compared with the traditional training method. The correlation with actual safety performance, however, remains unclear and requires further investigation.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1827733
- PAR ID:
- 10518491
- Editor(s):
- Gonzalez, V; Zhang, J; de_Soto, B; Brilakis, I
- Publisher / Repository:
- The International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proc., 41st International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC 2024)
- ISSN:
- 2413-5844
- ISBN:
- 978-0-6458322-1-1
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Virtual reality Construction training EEG Emotion analysis
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Lille, France
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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