functionality of Virtual Reality technology in the construction industry

functionality of Virtual Reality technology in the construction industry

Abstract

With the emergence of Virtual Reality (VR) technology as a new technology, there is still insufficient information on the acceptance and adoption of this technology among individuals. Semi-structured interviews conducted as a qualitative method for doing this research. Interview questions designed to evaluate the elements derived from the theoretical framework used. The conceptual framework based on the Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model (UTAUT). Interviews conducted among 15 students and academic staff at UOW and UNSW Universities in Australia. After collecting the information, the information was transferred to the NVivo software to assist in the analysis part. The results of this research indicate that VR technology has been able to be accepted by people in the construction industries. But there are still some barriers to further adopting this technology which are VR hardware and software requirements, affordability and accessibility of this technology. There have been several suggestions for decreasing these barriers in this research. The results of this research can be a useful source for suppliers and companies affiliated with this technology. Further research is required to examine the functionality of Virtual Reality technology in the construction industry and to demonstrate its capability in this sector.

Keywords: Virtual Reality, adoption, barriers, construction management, the construction industry

1. Introduction

Virtual Reality is one of the recent advances in technology that changes the way people experience physical and virtual environments in different sectors (1). Sherman and Craig (2) defined VR as a medium composed of communicating computer simulations that sense the user’s action and position and change or augment the feedback to one or more senses, creating the feeling of the present in the simulation(a virtual world) or being mentally immersed. This chapter concentrates on examining the acceptability and adaptation of Virtual Reality technology in construction industries. This section will deliver a summary of the background on the topic, including problem statement and research strategy to achieve research objectives.

VR technology allows users to interact with different objects in a virtual environment (3). Shen, Zhang (4) expressed that virtual simulation creates advantages like cost-saving, timesaving, and improvement in training efficiency and safety in various areas such as Healthcare, construction, and manufacture. Some VR applications aimed to combine virtual displays with the physical world to create more meaningful virtual presentations by providing the more ability to interact with it. Its referred to as Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR). AR allows the user to perceive the real world with overlaying the virtual elements. MR defines as an Augmented Reality with various levels of overlaid digital data (5). The following Figure 1 illustrates the Reality-Virtuality continuum.

Figure 1- Reality-Virtuality continuum

In recent years, the advancement of technology in the VR field has reached various industries (6). One of the essential sectors which have used VR technology is the construction industry. Currently, VR technology used for different functions in construction industries. Based on (7-10) researches, the adoption of VR and AR devices could help various construction industries to improve in different parts. VR can be helpful for workers training to occur in low-price, low safety risks, and faster methods in a virtual environment before real projects (7). Some construction industries use AR to identify hazards and felling of their workers in their workplace (8, 9). Besides, VR can be a beneficial tool for architectures to build maquettes in the virtual environment with more creativity in rapid time (10). These are a small number of VR functions used in construction industries.

1.1 Problem discussion

VR technology attracted a massive amount of investments during the last years. Facebook made a massive investment of $2 billion to buy the Oculus Rift in 2014 (11). Oculus Rift is a VR headset from a technology-based company which combines a headphone with a microphone to help users feeling more real in the virtual environment. VR technology utilized in different sectors, such as manufacture, construction, Healthcare, Education, and media. The extensive usage of VR technology is made based on its essential benefits such as, time-saving, cost-saving and efficiency enhancement which occur by conducting that (6). While VR has been around for decades, it has been disregarded by the majority just until recent years. Based on the (12) research, only 7% of businesses currently use VR in their sector, but 23% of companies have a plan to use VR in the next three years due to an increase in consumer purchase intention and product value. The following Figure 2. Taken from Google Trends, illustrates the trend of VR technology interest in the last five years in Australia based on web searches in all categories. Also, the following Figure 3, shows the direction of VR headset interest in the previous five years in Australia based on the web searches in all categories. Also, information obtained from CCS Insight about global shipments of VR and AR devices is as following Figure 4.

Despite the enormous amount of money spent on VR technology advancement, there is still a low desire to use VR technology across different companies (3). Besides, different companies need to have more competitive advantages in different areas, such as technology to compete in the world marketplace (13). Several types of research investigate the barriers and factors to the adoption of Virtual reality in different industries separately. Still, there are few resources to address the acceptability and adaptation of Virtual Reality technology in the specific area of the construction industry. Identifying barriers and factors to the adoption and acceptance of Virtual Reality technology in construction industries is thus a vital issue for the suppliers as well as customer groups and related businesses.

1.2 Research goals and objectives

There is no doubt that the interest in virtual Reality is growing at present, and VR technology is spreading among different companies. However, it is still in the early adopter stage, and diverse applications for significant adoption are uncertain. There are existing articles that identify the factors and barriers which affect VR adoption (3). However, there is inadequate data to investigate VR adoption. So, this chapter aims to further investigate the barriers and drivers to the approval and acceptance of VR in construction industries.

This chapter is about adding more information to the context of VR and AR technologies in the current databases. During this research, to obtain a better understanding of the current situation and future opportunities of VR and AR technologies, the actual usage of these technologies will be examined. This chapter will clarify the unclear context of barriers and drivers which affect the adoption of VR and AR. Eliminating the barriers that hinder the growth of VR technology and developing the drivers which are essential for the customers to use this technology can be vital steps in the adoption of VR technology in construction industries. It can be beneficial to VR suppliers, VR manufacturers, and other related VR businesses.  The main objective is to indicate the current situation of VR adoption in the construction industries. The summary of specific goals reflects below;

• indicating the current status of approval and acceptance of VR and identifying the opportunities of these technologies in the construction industries
• Identify the barriers to the support of VR which prevent people from using that
• Identify the factors and drivers of the VR which can attract people to use that
• Preparing solutions for eliminating the VR adoption barriers

1.3 Outline of the chapter

The strategy of the thesis organized as follows;

• Literature Review, this section provides a summary of VR technology concepts as well as giving background from different existing literature about the adoption of Virtual Reality. Moreover, the current potential barriers which affect the approval of VR w
• Then, the methodology of the thesis, which is mainly about the way of creating interview questions to obtain the satisfaction of the research inquiry and doing a survey among participants. Based on the responses received from the participants, data analysis, finding, and conclusion parts explained.

The table shows the structure of research provided in the following

Table 1- Structure of the research

2. literature review

This part provides an overview of different categories of VR and AR technology studied in past studies, as well as their applications in different areas, specifically, construction industries. Besides, it produces factors that affect the adoption of VR in construction industries.

2.1 VR/AR technologies

The key terms and definitions related to Virtual Reality, presented in Table 2.

Table 2- Key terms and definitions related to Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) simulation designed to create immersive worlds from which users have unique insights into how the real world works (21). The critical elements in experiencing VR are participants, creators, virtual world, interactivity, and immersion (2). Participants are the most crucial foundation for experiencing this technology. The entire virtual scene happens in the minds of the participants, and they experience the virtual area in their way. The second most important principle is the person or people who design and implement VR technology. The virtual scene exists in the mind of its creator revealed in a way shared with others. The virtual world can live without a VR system such as the collection of software; hardware assembled to produce VR experience. Immersion is a feeling of being mentally or physically in an environment. Mental immersion is the primary purpose of major media designers, while physical immersion defines as a characteristic of VR. Finally, interactivity is the response to a user action, which is reliable for VR (1).

Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Cyberspace, and Telepresence is the forms of computer-mediated interfaces to virtual and real worlds. Virtual Reality, Telepresence, and Augmented Reality are three classes of immersive media in a physical manner. But Cyberspace indicates mental immersion with other individuals. Augmented Reality (AR) mixes computer-generated information with the physical world, and Mixed Reality (MR)  defined as an immersive technology that merges VR and AR (20). Besides, Telepresence defined as the ability to interact with a physical world without limitations on the size or position of the device utilized to transfer the user’s command (20).

2.1.1 VR/AR devices

Virtual reality technology is a virtual scene that has generated by a software system in which the operator can feel and experience that virtual scene like a natural place. A head-mounted display (HMD) is a wearable device, which permits the user to explore the virtual area by moving one’s head. The user can interact with individual controllers with the environment in many cases. Users can display video recorded or computer-generated content with 360 unique cameras in virtual reality. Virtual Reality also can be categorized into three different groups based on their technology platforms which are, Head-based, Stationary, and Hand-based. A head-based group such as helmet and HMDs does not allow users to see the outside view of the world. A stationary group such as projectors and CAVE creates a location in space for users to feel the virtual environment without carrying any hardware. Finally, Hand-based groups such as smartphones and tablets force users to use them for experiencing the virtual world (2). The following Figure 5 is about different VR platforms.

In this part, we will show the development of VR technology to highlight the crucial stages in creating the current situation of VR technology (2, 22-25). In the following Figure 6, construction of VR technology illustrated;

Figure 6- History of Virtual Reality technology

While VR may be top of mind now, it’s not the first time. In the 1990s, when 3D gaming announced, there was a similar boom in virtual reality. Gaming companies presented 3D videogames; Movies similarly depicted this new type of existence. Though, the technology was unable to keep up with these unrealistic media portrayals. The 3D arcade games were suffering from mediocre graphics, low computing power, time lags, and high prices. These products eventually failed because consumers were unhappy with these technologies and the boom was over. A similar trend began when Facebook purchased Oculus for $2bn in 2014, and we note that more than 225 VC investments in VR/AR have been made over the past two years, raising $3.5bn inequity (26). So, in the current situation technology, there is a difference between the current states compared to before. Computers today are powerful enough to make virtual worlds realistic, and mobile phone industries have improved as well. Companies have been interested in this progress, and they have become involved (26). Moreover, Flavián, Ibáñez-Sánchez (1) represented that the amount of VR, AR, and MR sales in 2020 are forecasted to be about US$ 61.3 billion, which is 21 times higher than in 2016.

2.3 Potential sectors for VR/AR

There are various areas in which the VR/AR technology can affect the market. These technologies can have different effects on each of the following exchanges. For example, VR and AR can save time and money for the AEC industries. It can also provide more excellent safety at the job site.  This technology is beneficial for the entertainment market, and in terms of statistics and numbers, it seems that most investments have been made in these markets so far (26). The following Table 3 indicates the application of VR/AR technology in different sectors.

Table 3-Potential sectors for using VR and AR

2.4 VR in the construction industry

VR and the development of Virtual Environments can affect the understanding of construction project stakeholders and their success in completing their projects. VR technology can help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of detailed design, preparation and planning, and construction completion of a project. Increasing the understanding of the design intent, decreasing the work changes, and improving the constructability of the project can be done by reviewing and rehearsing the construction of the facility in a 3D immersive and interactive environment before the start of construction. The following Table 4 indicates the application of VR technology in the construction industry.

Table 4– Using VR in the construction industry

2.5 Theoretical research framework

Several models have emerged over the years that aim to explore the adoption and acceptance of new technology. In this section, these models will be explained in the following Table 5 to reach the theory used in this research.

Table 5- the adoption of new technology

The theoretical framework used in this study explains the adoption of new technologies and provided from the UTAUT model. Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social factors, facilitating conditions, and trust are the primary constructs in the adoption and acceptance of new technology among users. Performance expectancy is the most critical factor in utilizing modern technology. There is a massive expectation for new technologies. Discovering the real perceptions about the usefulness of VR technology can be essential for future users of this technology. Effort expectancy is about the understanding of how significant the required effort in is implementing and learning of new technologies. This construct can represent the ease of use in technology. Social factors are about assessing people thinking about adopting new technologies in other companies in the same industries. Facilitating conditions is about the function of modern technology to simplify requirements rather than complicate them. Trust is about identifying the security and privacy hazards of new technology. The effects of sub-constructs evaluated during this research.

Based on the following Figure 7, the identified construct to the adoption of new technologies presented. This figure adapted from the UTAUT model (50).

• Barriers to the adoption of Virtual Reality technology

In this part, the obstacles to Virtual Reality based on the existing literature explained. Fernandes, Raja (13) investigated the aspects which affect the adoption of VR among top UK construction firms in the public sector. The authors found the factors which affect VR by researching other resources then they put them in different categories. Authors collected data from 33 top UK construction firms by distributing questionnaires. The result of this study indicates that the senior management support, champion within a company, degree of business competition, internal needs, the participation of users, and organisational resources are the most critical factors which affect the adoption of VR in the UK construction sector.

Moreover, Laurell, Sandström (3) identified the barriers to the adoption of virtual reality through social media. The authors chose HTC Vive and Oculus Rift as empirical cases. The data collected through all published user-generated posts in Swedish social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, blogs, and twitter which have the two keywords. The result of this study indicates that network, technology, price, and trialability are the most critical barriers to the adoption of virtual reality, respectively.

This research aims to examine the essential constructs to the adoption of Virtual Reality technology in construction industries and identified the barriers to the approval of VR as new technology.  Although VR technology can be a very applicable technology in the construction industry and there has been a lot of investment in this technology so far, it has not yet been accepted by all. However, with the adoption of this technology, the construction industry can make beneficial changes. Different researches have carried out on the adoption of VR technology that has not been able to provide the information needed in this field. Heinonen (51), investigated the VR and AR adoption in the enterprise sector.

Moreover, Glegg, Holsti (52), Paulo, Rita (53), and tom Dieck, Jung (54) evaluated the effects of VR and AR adoption on the healthcare, tourism, and national parks sectors respectively. Also, Stockinger (55) has been researching the current and future state of the VR and AR technology, but only the participants of this study were the experts. This sample domain may not be enough because different individuals with varying levels of VR experience must be used to demonstrate the relevant results. The same situation happens for (56) research, which used only experts as its participants to investigate users’ contribution to the VR as new technology.

Therefore, to fill the existing gap in the current research mentioned before, the people involved in this research will have varying experience in VR technology; this research conducted related to the construction industry. By doing this research, barriers to the adoption of virtual reality in the construction industry identified not based on social media channels or only UK construction industries but based on the people’s perspective in the face-to-face interview method.

3. Method

A qualitative method selected for doing this research, and the Semi-structured interviews conducted for collecting data. The ethics approval of the Built Environment faculty at UNSW University also obtained for conducting this research. In the following section, the approach and reasoning for the selected method outlined in more detail. Also, the process of choosing contributors, collecting and analysing data discussed.

3.1 Qualitative research

realize and explore a broader phenomenon; qualitative methods are utilized by asking questions such as what, how, and why. This method can be useful for research that the authors do not have enough previous information about that. Developing and adopting new technology is one of the areas which needs qualitative research to gain better data (57). Because VR/AR technology is at the beginning of its path, and there is still much information to be obtained, a qualitative approach in this research. In this study, trying to find out more about VR and AR technology is one of the purposes to find out the causes that prevent it from being developed. So, the use of this study is to realize and evaluate VR technology rather than to measure some parameters.

3.2 Case study

This approach utilized to conduct this study. This approach used for a profound examining of subjects and compared with other criteria. The goal of this approach is to examine a situation or an event from the perspective of the individual (58). In this research, VR technology is in a position of interest. The case study approach aims to obtain different categories and themes, not to test hypotheses or prove relationships. So, this is more of an interpretive approach. This method is a valuable way to do this research. Data to perform this kind of research is collected by doing some interviews that require more time during the study (58).

In the qualitative method, information is collected, interpreted, and suggestions made at the same time. Because individuals answer the questions, the themes that can arise may be dissimilar than expected. Also, the qualitative approach provides more freedom for the examiner to highlight the outcomes of the study and the legitimacy of the gained data (57)

3.3 Interview method

The semi-structured interview was selected to conduct this study because it can provide subjects and further data on our specific field of study, which is VR. This approach to allow us to direct the interviewee to our field of interest. Completely structured interviews for this study could not be a useful approach because, as mentioned in the literature review part, there are many areas in which VR technology plays a role. So semi-structured interview chosen to get in-depth information.

3.4 Sampling

Interviewees for conducting this research chosen from academic staff and students in UNSW and UOW universities in the construction faculty. Some interviewees were the users of VR in their daily work. To do this study, participants encouraged to use a VR program which provided for this study, even if they have experience of using this technology before. This program was a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) simulator that gives users the chance to see and experience all the different locations and parts of this giant machine. Meet necessities, a laptop, an HTC Vive Headset, and its controllers are used to perform this simulation. The user can also use this simulator by keyboard and a mouse only without having to use the headset and the controllers. Users can view the machine in real-time through a headset.  All the relevant information that the users need to know to use that technology on their own will be given to the contributors first and during the case study, as well as the facilities provided by this technology will be introduced to them. All the previous stages in Built environment faculty of the UNSW and the library of the UOW universities. The following Figure 8 illustrates the headset, which used in this research. Also, Figure 9 shows a participant while using this technology.

3.4.1 Sample size

The number of contributors to other similar investigations used to determine the number of participants. Studies such as (56) and (51), which are strictly related to the subject of this research, used 11 and 10 participants respectively. So, it can infer that this number of participants in the usual and ordinary number used in such analyses. In this study, 15 participants participated, and the description of their selection is considerable in the next section.

3.5 Data collection

All the participants engaged in this study by their consent. Students who were interested in participating in the study filled out the consent form from the built Environment faculty of UNSW University. Secondly, they asked to conduct the VR program, and finally, they did a face-to-face interview.  To perform this research with academic staff, they emailed with the information about the study. Then, if they were satisfied, additional information and the consent form were sent to them on how to conduct the interview process, and the necessary coordination made to provide the appropriate time for doing the interview. All 15 face-to-face meetings were of which 14 of them were students, and 1 of them was an academic staff. Out of which 15 participants, 4 of them were from UNSW University and the rest from UOW University also, the academic staff was from UNSW University. The participants had work experience and education in construction, and they had a different level of experience with the VR technology, and the interviews lasted about 20 to 30 minutes.

The interviews conducted as a semi-structured method and the stages of the discussions were as follows.  Second, Participants shared their experience of using VR technology. The participant’s questions related to the adoption of VR technology. During the face-to-face interviews, the participants’ voices recorded as well as some notes taken. After each meeting, all the participants’ comments and ideas written and saved as a word document. All the audio recordings for this research and their transcripts saved. After conducting all the interviews, these files were easily accessible for the analysis part. In the following section, choosing the appropriate software for qualitative research will be discussed.

Figure 10 below illustrates the purpose of interview questions that fit the needs of the survey to adopt new technology.

Based on the previous parts, investigating several factors is needed to investigate this. Each of the questions designed to help for examining the state of the VR technology in each factor and some other questions asked to identify factors that prevented the adoption of VR technology. However, the answers to some of the items in each section can influence the other parts as well. Because of the interview method used in this research and analysis of the solutions based on all participants’ responses. More details about the analysis part given in the next section.

3.6 Approach to analysis

Although automated data analysis has related to quantitative methods for an extended period, Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) is progressively being advanced. One of the popular CAQDAS is NVivo software, which not used for analysing data, but it helps researchers in their analysing process. There is not any software that can analyse qualitative data. The main functionality of the NVivo software is about data management which allows researchers to use that in their analysing process (59). After all the interviews completed, all the word files provided after each interview transferred to the NVivo software. To perform the analysing section of this research, we needed to create some codes in the transcription of participants’ interviews by using the NVivo software. In the NVivo software, choosing a coding method is required for analysing the data. Thematic coding used in this research based on the participants’ responses that can increase the accuracy and value of the codes. The final coding structure is available to see in the following Table 6. After creating the systems, NVivo assisted us in analysing the entire research. The result of this analysis seen in the finding section.

Table 6-Final coding structure

The following Figure 11 illustrates the visualization of one of the participants in this research which is created by NVivo software.

4. Findings

After completing all the interviews and analysing them, the results divided into different categories that were the same factors considered in the research framework. Meetings are all about using VR technology in the construction industry, and the result of this study can be accurate and valid because of utilizing the precise method and the factors discussed are all from highly reliable sources. Participants in this study include people with different levels of experience in using this technology which can improve the level of reliability of the results.

Therefore, this section will explain participants’ different questions on each factor as well as the factors that prevent VR technology from being accepted by the participants. In the end, the results of each item presented in the table.

4.1 Performance expectancy

This factor examines the usefulness of VR technology in the construction industry. To illustrate the value of this technology, participants answered four different questions including the effects of VR on productivity, benefits of using VR, different usage areas of VR, and drivers which encouraging to use of VR. In the following section, participants’ conversations about each question reviewed, and finally, the performance expectancy of VR technology summarized.

4.1.1 Productivity

Whenparticipants asked to comment on the effect of VR technology on productivity, all of them had a favourable view of that and saying that it could significantly increase productivity, especially in the context of people construction training. It is no longer necessary that different people, such as engineers go to the original construction site to learn some concepts as well as devices and machines. Below we look at one of the participants’ responses regarding this issue.

“Education is where I think it does. Education and training. I think to try to convey the same thing through as I was saying, books, and lectures; you just can’t do it as quickly as you can with your hands-on things. The example is if Michael Jordan was doing a seminar on basketball, where no one played basketball” (participant number 4)

Also, other participants felt that VR technology could impact on productivity by time and cost-saving.

“In terms of productivity, I should mention that For example, there is no need to be in the site because of course, it will be more cost extensive, and you can just use it in a room, and you will see the Industrial site and whatever and it will save more time, cost and of course it will lead to higher productivity” (participant number 14)

So generally, they thought that VR technology could have an impact on reducing costs and time as well as enhancing the ease of learning for construction engineers.

4.1.2 Benefits of using VR

When participants asked to comment about the benefits that they were getting while using VR, most of them mentioned that it was an excellent opportunity for them to be in a virtual world like the real one that they cannot be there. It could be because of the time, cost or safety issues. Below we look at one participant’s response regarding this question.

“Well, of course, you can be somewhere in a virtual world which can be difficult to be there in reality or dangerous or even impossible because of restrictions. And that you can be anywhere you need to be with no matter of cost and time” (participant number 15)

Also, they thought that VR could help them to have a better understanding, and it involves a different area of knowledge.

“Well, I think VR technology involves many other technologies in different disciplines like computer science and or, construction management or other knowledge, so it has encouraged me to learn more knowledge in terms of other disciplines. So, I think this is a benefit I am getting” (participant number 3)

So finally, they thought that VR could bring lots of benefits like time and cost-saving, safety, and different area of knowledge.

4.1.3 Different usage area of VR

Once participants asked to think about a different area of the construction industry which VR can be helpful, most of them remembered construction training and education as the first areas. Below we look at one participant’s response regarding this question.

“One of the main ones that as a mining or civil engineer working in underground, or excavation like mining or tunnelling, which is not easy to get there by engineers. It means you cannot even get there. So, it helps engineers. Engineers to get a better understanding of what is happening underground. Because We have a lot of problems when we go underground and when we want to start working there, so we have to just do a lot of introduction, a lot of inductions to engineers for the first time. So, it gives us gave them a chance just  prepared for the dangers” (participant number 10)

Also, some students thought other areas of construction industries such as site planning, mining, building construction could be affected by VR technology.

“Sometimes, for example, for some construction site that still on the progress on their construction that they are not ready, but we want to present it for the clients for the stakeholders it would be interesting and also attractive, it will make them satisfied to you know, have a look at the future construction port construction site, how we will be the shape how are the features and these things that are the most part used” (participant number 14)

So finally, it seems that based on participants’ responses, there is a lot of area in the construction industries which can be affected by VR technology especially in the future it will be more than now.

4.1.4 Drivers which encouraging to use VR

When participants asked to tell their ideas about the drivers that encourage them to use VR technology most of them mentioned that being virtually in a place where they cannot be there in reality, is the best drivers that they feel. Also, some of them thought that VR is a new technology and they like to use that and if they do not use that they fall behind the improvement of the technology.

“I think in the last few years, it is the same as that. If you do not get into VR, you are going to fall behind businesses and the research and other areas like that. When you need big emotional things like emotional experiences or complex learning and teaching kind of situations where movement is important to you, I think then it is good. But I do see that in a lot of cases, AR will probably be more useful” (participant number 4)

Furthermore, some participants mentioned another time that VR ease the way of learning, it has different usage area, and it brings time and cost-saving and reliability. So, these are the essential drivers that encourage them to use VR in the construction industries. Generally based on the participants’ responses, VR has different drivers that encourage people to use that.

4.2 Effort expectancy

This factor examines the level of ease of using this technology in the construction industry. To illustrate that, participants answered five different questions, including the difficulties of learning to use VR, time spent on learning, problems arising during use, and the amount of time the headset holds. In the following section, participants’ conversations about each question reviewed, and finally, the effort expectancy of VR technology summarized.

4.2.1 Difficulties of learning to use VR

Once participants asked to share their ideas about the number of difficulties that they encountered to learn to use VR technology, almost half of them mentioned that there were no particular difficulties to learn how to use that. One sample answer regarding this statement is as follows;

“I think for people who know about basic thing about VR they can do it and no need to be deep and I think it is easy to learn” (participant number 11)

Also, some participants thought that learning to use VR is easy, but it depends on the sort of applications.

“Not difficult at all. It was fundamental; it depends on the application itself. But for example, from what I saw, it had like few only like, buttons and a few others like, stuff to do. It was straightforward. It was like; you just must try and error. You can learn a lot about to know how to use the whole application. So, it depends on the application” (participant number 13)

Other participants felt confusing because VR technology is the new technology and they are not used to that. Yet, also some others felt uncomfortable because they do not have any spatial awareness. Besides participant number 4, who is an academic staff, gave us valuable information.

“There is a flat statistic of about 10% of the population who just will never feel comfortable. It is something to do with the physical. Yeah, functionality arises or something like that. So that flat statistic already says 10% is going just never to get a no matter how long  put it on.”

So finally, we can conclude that some people had difficulties with using this technology solved over time except those people that physically have the feeling of uncomfortable.

4.2.2 Most important difficulties of learning to use VR

To make sure that participants were having trouble while using VR technology, asked once again to give their opinion on the most crucial difficulty that they had to use VR technology. Some of them had problems with handling the controllers; they felt that it takes a little time to get used to that. Others felt that headset was heavy to use, which is because of the kind of headset that we used for this research. Again, some participants felt that VR is a new technology. Also, it depends on the application that they want to use that; if the form is not complicated, it will be easy to use that. Below we look at two participants’ responses regarding this question.

“Because VR is like a new technology for us as both students like our generation like most of the time that we are using VR so might be like having different feelings about the headset also the controller because I have never used the controller before. It is like our real life is still take some time to learn it was quite simple like I can actually learn in five minutes and pretty straightforward” (participant number 2)

“Well, I think the most difficult things might be. I think it might be people. Some people might be reluctant to learn new technology in they do not want to try new things. Because they feel unsafe or hard to learn new technology. So, I think this might be one of the difficulties for learning VR” (participant number 3)

So generally, we saw some difficulties in using VR. But it is worth pointing out that these issues need work and resolved.

4.2.3 Time spent on learning

In this stage, we wanted to find out how long it took for people to learn to use the technology, so participants asked to indicate how long it took them to learn to use VR technology alone. Almost all participants acknowledged that it only took a few minutes to get to know everything. One answer from participants is as follows;

“It is a couple of seconds it depends on how you adapt yourself and how fast you are” (participant number 12)

4.2.4 Problems arising during use

Once participants asked to share their ideas regarding the problems that arise. At the same time, they were using VR, some of them mentioned that it depends on the application that they need to use because if it is complex, using controllers will be difficult. Also, correctly setting up the system can be another issue checked before starting the application. One aspect which some participants mentioned about using VR was the limited area of moving. We can see one participant ‘s response to this question.

“For me, as you saw, I have a problem that I cannot control my body. When I’m using a headset, and I need to be restricted to an area just to prevent any kind of hurt because I might hurt myself and I am going to be using VR. I have no idea where I am. So, I start moving around” (participant number 10)

Some other participants mentioned that they did not feel any problem while using this technology. So generally, it seems that there were some problems that participants faced into them, and they need discussing further to solve.

 4.2.4 The amount of time the headset holds

Another issue that we thought could be a problem for the participants was their tolerance for holding the headset on their faces. It seems that when people put their earphones on their faces, it can be problematic for them because they have no idea of their surroundings. After the interviews, we found that almost more than half of them were willing to keep the headset on for a long time, but others believed it was either difficult for them or the type of program they were using should be so attractive that it makes them eager to keep that. One sample answer provided below,

“The one that I tried with you brought is for us, that was pretty and good the headset was comfortable, but from the point that we are human, I think for me, maybe 25 to 30 minutes. I am going to need to feel unsafe, I mean, the real reward but I think that can gradually increase the thing but if the headset we put them be so much uncomfortable. That’s going to be annoying or make you headache or earache” (participant number 6)

4.3 Social factors

This factor examines the participants thinking about adopting VR technology in other companies in the construction industry. For illustrations, participants asked about their ideas regarding the issues that make VR useful and valuable to them socially. Most of them thought that if other businesses in the construction industries can use this technology and be at the same virtual place. It would be handy and valuable for them to have communication with each other during experiencing a scenario and also they thought that it would be useful for sharing and transferring their knowledge and ideas in a flexible working condition. One sample answer provided below,

“One of the most important things is that how can we contact other people if we can make a connection, contact with other peoples around the world. So, it is going to make it so reliable and easier to get a lot of information and getting knowledge from all around the world, for example about one specific part. So, it is going to make it more enjoyable and more reliable. If we have other people involved in one field of interest” (participant number 9)

Some others mentioned that it could be useful but somehow. The sample answer provided,

“It can be beneficial because I am sure that it can improve efficiency. But if we do not know the user, I am not sure how it can use if you want to know the idea of different people. It is complex or risky. You are not sure who they are. It depends on the goals, and what you want to do I am sure that some people use that for online gaming maybe it can be good” (participant number 7)

4.4 Facilitating conditions

This factor examines whether VR technology facilitates the conditions or not. @To illustrate this situation; participants asked to share their ideas about comparing VR technology with the traditional method and developing VR applications and devices.

4.4.1 Comparing VR technology with the traditional method

Once participants asked to talk about their ideas about comparing VR technology with the traditional method, most of them compare using the headset and controllers with using the mouse and keyboard. However, some participants compare VR technology with lectures and books in educational and training purposes. One sample answer provided below,

“Honestly, I do not think there is a huge difference, where it comes in is the kind of spatial awareness thing. So, having a 360 view on a computer and YouTube, for example, is pretty much the same thing as a headset. However, the level of immersion goes up when you have everything down, and it is right up against your face. But I would say it is still similar that there is not that much difference at the moment between the situations where it is probably good to have a mention that I think is in training things, for example, I think that is when it helps me. It is hard to translate tacit knowledge. And I think VR is a good way of allowing you to have the experience, without that, you cannot read a book and learn a lot of things. Yeah, that is the kind of fills that gap” (participant number 4)

Although some other participants felt that using VR headset and controllers can be more useful. One participant’s response provided regarding this issue;

“I think when you use the VR technology, you feel better that you feel that you are literally in that situation or in that place. So, it helps you to understand the environment. Like you are there. But when you use the keyboard, and you just follow it on screen, yeah, it does not give the same feeling, and it helps you to remember what you see in a better way because you feel it” (participant number 8)

Most participants thought that using VR technology could be more effective than previous methods.

4.4.2 Development of VR applications and devices

The purpose of this section is to understand the importance of developing VR applications and devices to help VR in facilitating conditions.  All the participants agreed that developing VR applications and tools can improve the adoption and acceptability of VR technology because this can help VR to promote requirements more than before. One sample response provided below,

“I think it is a part of our future; you need to accept it. I think within the next 5or ten years, it is going to be mandatory for each engineer to know how to use this If they want to find a proper job. It is much less money and time-consuming to train people in this way, rather than to take them to real facilities. And it is no experience-wise it is. It is much more useful. It is much more fun to be in a three-dimension environment rather than just sitting at a desk and using keyboards and mouse they need to look if you want to encourage someone to use it. The first thing you need to do is to make them use it for five minutes. Because once they experience it for the first time, they realize that, there is a significant difference between, sitting at a desk and using desktop and keyboards and using a VR. And because we are visual people, the whole visual experience is fundamentally different and better when you are using VR. So, there is a huge room for improvements.” (Participant number 5)

4.5 Trust

This factor examines the security and privacy hazards of new technology. For illustration, this factor of technology, participants were asked to talk about the privacy and security of VR. Almost half of the participants mentioned that the protection and confidentiality of VR are the same as other technologies. One sample answer provided below,

“I think this technology is just like the rest of the software that depends on the internet and doesn’t make much difference so overall I think it’s a safe technology” (participant number 15)

Some other participants thought that this technology could make a problem regarding safety and privacy, but it depends on the applications. One sample answer is as follows,

“I think when you are playing VR, they are somewhere to stand near you because you cannot see the surroundings, and you might have some safety issues. For our privacy issue depends on the software developer” (participant number 1)

4.6 Experience, Gender, Age, and Education

There are several sub-factors, such as experience, gender, age, and education, that need consideration to give a precise and accurate view of the adoption of new technology. After the interviews, it appears that the gender and education factor did not affect any of the above situations, but the age and experience factors may be relevant.

Regarding the age factor, it is worth noting that participants believed that some people, especially older people, were not willing to learn new technologies and certainly learning new technologies can be harder for them. One sample answer is as follows,

“Elderly people are going to have many more problems with using that. It is going to be a total difference, you know, experience with them. To be honest, I cannot suggest anything when you are dealing with older adults. One way or another, they need to cope with it. It is a part of living in 2020” (participant number 5)

About the experience factor, the impression made that the participants who did not have the VR experience found this technology a new, exciting, and enjoyable experience. Still, those who had more experience had a closer look at this technology and thought that this technology is a better way of learning, and this will be used more in the future. Two sample answers are as follows,

“It was fascinating because I never used VR in that way. We use it for games, but I never used it with work industry related stuff. So, it was exciting, and I thought like, you could not use it a lot in this field. But now I think there is a lot of things that you can learn from that” (participant number 13)

“It was good. I was somehow familiar with the whole concept of using VR. But the thing was that it was my first time to use it for the specific purpose that if you are using it, it was interesting because I never had any kind of experience of being in that specific situation. And I enjoyed it. It did not last too much. It was something like 10 minutes” (participant number5)

4.7 Barriers to the adoption of VR

To measure the acceptance and adoption of this technology among different people, we need to examine and evaluate the barriers that prevent VR technology from being adopted. To this end, participants asked to express their views on hurdles that impede the adoption of VR technology in the construction industries.

Several participants identified a lack of access to this technology as one of the critical barriers. They believed that this technology was not available and accessible to everyone, one because of the high cost of the device, and because this technology needs a high-powered system to be able to use the technology after purchasing that. One sample answer is as follows,

“Might be the equipment because like this kind of equipment is not common. You know for your own house. Also, like the computer that we need. Like it might be the computer with a better processor. Like we should not run just the big applications. You need a more powerful computer which is not accessible for some of the students” (participant number 2)

Some other participants thought that the emotional and mental issues of some people who cannot use headset are the main barriers to the adoption of this technology.

4.8 Overcome current barriers

One of the goals of this research was to find solutions to overcome the barriers to adopt VR technology. To accomplish this goal, we asked participants to suggest a way of removing and overcoming the obstacles that they mentioned in the previous section. All suggestions made by these participants explained in this section.

4.8.1 Improve hardware

It may be worth mentioning here that we did not use the latest headset and controller models in the market; instead, we used the available models, which had high power. So, concluded that over time the hardware available for this technology would improve and this can help a lot in adopting VR technology in the construction industries.

4.8.2 Improve software

Another factor in preventing the adoption of VR technology has high-powered hardware to use such technology as computers with powerful processors. Indeed, one of the barriers that seem to be hard to fix is this factor because such machines are not available to everyone and suppliers of this technology need for finding a solution to this obstacle to make this technology more acceptable in the construction industries.

4.8.3 Mix with traditional

One of the barriers raised in the previous section was the mental and emotional issues that some people have that. One solution that can help people use this technology is to mix it with its previous versions. Using the keyboard and mouse instead of using the headset and controllers is an example of that. This solution helps people to use this technology without any uncomfortable circumstances, and it can also help older people to adopt technology more efficiently.

4.8.4 Reducing price

A critical issue that prevents the adoption of this technology among different people is the high cost of this technology. Over time, it seems that we see a declining trend in the price of this technology as it more progresses.

4.8.5 University and industry facilities

One of the solutions suggested by the participants of this research can help a lot in adopting and familiarising different people with VR technology. This suggestion is that universities and construction industry centres provide this technology for using among their students and engineers, respectively. It solves both the problem of not having access to technology and the fact that people do not have to pay a lot of money to buy this technology and provide the proper software.

4.9 Summary

In the previous sections, the responses from different participants in the context of our factors evaluated. The following Table 7 is the summary of the findings for each interview question. Fifteen questions asked from the participants of the study, and according to the participant’s responses to each question, several codes assigned to them. Percentage column represents the percentage of participants who responded to the relevant issues by referring to each system. For instance, all participants agreed on the first question that VR technology can be instrumental in the construction industry. In answering to the question number 6, 36% of the participants believed that VR technology could be beneficial and useful in the construction education section and 28%, 21%, 11%, and 4% of the participants, respectively, have referred to building construction, training, mining, and site planning as proper sections for application of this technology. An example, column in front of each row provides an example of participants’ responding to each question and code.

Table 7- Summary of the findings

5. discussion

The purpose of this research was to demonstrate the acceptance and adaptation condition of VR technology in the construction industry. For achievement, it was essential to examine VR technology based on different factors provided from the theoretical research framework. Also, it is crucial to identify the barriers that hinder the adoption of VR technology in this sector.it was on the agenda to identify the factors that drive different people to adopt and use this technology as well. In the end, this research tried to come up with various suggestions for removing barriers.

This research conducted in a qualitative method. Through semi-structured interviews with participants who were students and academic staff of UNSW and UOW universities in Australia. The theoretical framework, which used in this research, is provided from the UTAUT model. NVivo software used to help to analyse the results of the interviews. The results of this research are summarized as follows;

Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social factors, facilitating conditions, and trust are the factors that needed to analyse to determine the acceptability status of VR technology in the construction industries. By analysing the performance expectancy, the results indicate that the success of VR technology in its usefulness in the construction industry. In the effort expectancy factor, although, the results show the ease of use of VR technology in the construction industry, there are some barriers to this factor. VR technology also worked well on social factors in the construction industry. And finally, the results show the relatively good performance of VR technology in facilitating conditions and trust factors. Still, there are some obstacles related to these factors to the production of VR in the construction industry. There are some sub-factors which can affect the adoption of new technology which are age, experience, and gender. All these sub-factors analysed as well. The results indicate that the gender factor was not affecting the main results, but age and experience factors can influence the results. Because the level of experience makes people more focused on the technical issues of VR technology and the age factor can be useful in learning and using VR technology.

The results of this study indicate that there are some barriers to adoption of VR technology. Among individuals, including affordability which shows the high price of this technology, emotional and mental issues which show some people are not using VR technology, hardware which shows the compelling computer requirement. The software which shows improvement in the applications, and accessibility of this technology which shows that VR technology is not available for all individuals. Each of the above is factors that need to be worked on by VR technology-related companies and industries. However, there is a factor like an emotional and mental issue that may not be much of a change by further development of VR technology, factors such as accessibility, affordability, hardware, and software that can be changed by the development of this technology. Over time and even they can become agents of greater acceptance and adoption of VR technology among people.

There are factors motivating people in adopting VR technology. Being in a virtual place instead of the real situation that they cannot be there, different usage area of VR technology, ease of learning of VR technology, trying new tech, reliability of VR, and not falling behind the technology improvement. After identifying factors that prevent people from adopting VR technology, the participants also made suggestions for overcoming.  These barriers as follows — improving VR hardware and software, mixing with the traditional method, reducing price, and preparing VR technology facilities for engineers and students by construction industry companies and universities respectively. By doing so, the process of adopting VR technology in the construction industry will accelerate, and more people become familiar with VR technology.

Given research has achieved all its aims and desires that make this research a complete. This research adds useful information on the adoption of technology to past investigations in this area of knowledge, including the drivers and barriers to the approval of VR technology and providing solutions to solve the obstacles in the construction industries.

6. Conclusion

In this section, a summary of the findings of this research provided, and then the limitations and suggestions for future research discussion.

Based on the findings section, the performance expectancy factor was analysed based on the participants’ responses for VR technology which demonstrates the efficiency and usefulness of this technology in the construction industry. The effort expectancy factor was analysed based on the participants’ responses which shows the excellent level of this technology in its ease of use.  The social element was analysed based on the participants’ responses related to the construction industry, which indicates the usefulness and effectiveness of this technology in this factor. The facilitating condition factor was analysed based on participants’ responses which illustrates the high efficiency of VR technology in facilitating conditions. Generally, it seems that most of the participants felt that there is no serious threat to the security and privacy of VR technology, and it looks the intimacy of VR technology is the same as other technologies. Based on the results on age, experience, gender, and education factors, it seems that gender and education factors do not have a significant impact on people’s intention in using VR technology. Still, age and experience factors can be influential. Affordability, hardware, software, accessibility, and mental issue are the factors that can prevent people from using VR technology. However, items such as hardware and software improvement, reducing price, university and industry facilities can remove the barriers.

6.1 Limitation

There were some limitations to this study, including the following; first, due to the limited time available for conducting this study, few interviews were conducted for this study while many more conversations need to undertake to trust the results of this research fully. Although all such research used the same number of participants, the more significant number of participants create higher accuracy and precision results. By increasing the number of participants, a quantitative method used to conduct the research. Secondly, this research conducted at only two universities in Sydney. Australia, while the educational level and facilities of each university can certainly be different from other universities. If it were possible that the research could be done simultaneously in other countries as well, due to the differences in the cultures of different countries, it would produce different results. Third, before conducting all interviews, participants used one sample of VR technology, which indicated that they used only one type of application and program. The results could be different if participants were using other programs. Various programs have their target audience. And some plans may be less appealing than others; participants should be familiar with different types of programs so that they can give more accurate comments.  With the advancement of VR technology, there have been changes in the applications, headsets, and controllers of VR technology used to influence the results.

6.2 Recommendation

Further research is needed to reach more participants, and it can also conduct in different countries. It is best to use the latest version of this technology headset and controllers for future research. By following the above, we can achieve the desired results with complete certainty. Also, further research is required to examine the functionality of Virtual Reality technology in the construction industry and to demonstrate its capability in this sector.