By Nidhi DhullReviewed by Susha Cheriyedath, M.Sc.Oct 8 2024A recent review article published in Results in Engineering explored the state-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) application in construction health and safety (CHS) through a dual scientometric and systematic review approach. Additionally, after identifying the existing challenges, strategic recommendations were provided to advance VR-CHS research.
Study: A state-of-the-art analysis of virtual reality applications in construction health and safety. Image Credit: Ground Picture/Shutterstock.com
Background
The construction industry is characterized by high injury rates, resulting in deaths and substantial financial loss. VR is an innovative technology that can help foresee possible hazards on site. However, the lack of adoption of VR makes it challenging to identify construction safety hazards. Additionally, an in-depth analysis of the potential use of VR in CHS is lacking.
Thus, this study adopted a mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) approach to comprehensively review VR in CHS. Quantitatively, a systematic literature search and a scientometric analysis were conducted from 2010 to 2023. Simultaneously, the qualitative systematic review assessed various VR technologies and their applications in CHS.
With only a single publication recorded annually from 2010 to 2014 and two from 2015 to 2017, a considerable uptick was noticed from 2018 with eight publications. Notably, out of 33 countries represented in the 106 articles, the United States had the maximum contribution.
VR in Construction
VR systems are complex media technologies designed for immersive sensory experience and advanced content representation, which have the capabilities of simulation and imitation of imagined and real worlds. VR is accessible via different displays, including cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE), head-mounted device (HMD), or desktop computer.
Accordingly, VR technologies are classified into five categories: immersive VR (IVR), desktop-based VR (DVR), building information modeling (BIM)-enabled VR (BIMVR), three-dimensional game-based VR (3DGVR), and augmented reality (AR).
IVR, the most expensive system, utilizes HMDs and sensor gloves to provide immersive sensory experiences to users. It accounts for only 6.7% of the VR applications in construction safety, mainly in walk-throughs to detect hazards. Alternatively, DVR, the most cost-effective and least immersive VR system, is mostly used for construction engineering education and training.
BIMVR depends on the BIM model, linking different categories of VR and data binding to simulate building operations and activities. It helps detailed visualization of all the BIM model components, removing constraints of two-dimensional drawings. Additionally, 3DGVR improves interactions among users through a game-like computer-based training scenario. It eases collision detection computation and reduces complexity for objects like construction cranes and excavators.
AR, accounting for 32% of VR applications in CHS, is applied in the instruction and inspection process. Real-world objects are utilized as AR interface components, and virtual content interactions are made through their manipulation.
VR-CHS Applications
VR enables users to pay close attention to and employ suitable strategies to deal with various hazards present on construction sites. Most conventional safety estimation techniques are manual and based on arbitrary assumptions, adopted to design preventive measures against anticipated safety hazards through project meetings. VR surmounts these challenges through modeling and visualization.
VR enables continuous construction site safety monitoring through automated systems. Moreover, the construction managers who will act upon the data may access it immediately after. Thus, VR enables real-time hazard tracking on-site, helping construction workers avoid dangerous zones.
Safety education and on-site and off-site training are crucial to enhancing CHS. While off-site training lacks hands-on learning opportunities, on-site training is inefficient and can disrupt routine construction work. Notably, VR can enhance these by furnishing visualized data and providing virtual hands-on training off-site.
Current Challenges
While VR possesses enormous potential to enhance CHS efficiency, it faces certain challenges related to infrastructure, algorithm development, virtual content modeling, general health and safety, and interoperability. Infrastructure challenges include hardware issues such as resolution, device weight, view angle, user mobility, frame rate, portability, ease of deployment, device ergonomics, and dedicated space requirements.
Every construction project's uniqueness necessitates customized algorithms. Moreover, developing an immersive, illustrative, intuitive, interactive, and informative virtual world requires specific skills and significant funds. This challenge is vital for companies that are just aspiring to adopt BIM.
VR technologies pose general health and safety challenges to the users, such as physical (unnatural postures, immersion injuries, hygiene), physiological (cardiovascular changes, visual asthenopia), and psychological (psychomotor performance, addiction, stress).
Conclusion and Future Prospects
Overall, this review comprehensively investigated the VR-CHS research through a combined scientometric and systematic review. Apart from various applications of VR in enhancing CHS, considerable challenges in the adoption of these systems were identified.
However, this review mainly focuses on the technological and methodological aspects of VR systems while not examining in-depth the practical implementation challenges faced by the construction industry. Moreover, the study is limited by the existing literature, not fully accounting for real-world constraints like resistance to technological change, financial limitations, and different regulations across different regions.
Thus, the researchers suggest conducting empirical studies and field trials to validate the efficacy of VR applications in diverse construction settings and address the practical challenges comprehensively.
Journal Reference
Akindele, N., Taiwo, R., Sarvari, H., Oluleye, B. I., Awodele, I. A., & Olaniran, T. O. (2024). A state-of-the-art analysis of virtual reality applications in construction health and safety. Results in Engineering, 23, 102382. DOI: 10.1016/j.rineng.2024.102382, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123024006376
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