Communications of the ACM
Making Construction Sites Safer
Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum are aiming to make construction sites safer with interactive virtual reality training courses.
Credit: Schirdewahn/Ruhr University Bochum
Researchers from Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) in Germany want to make construction sites safer with interactive virtual reality (VR) training courses.
The researchers are developing technology to make it possible to experience sources of danger virtually. They say the technology is intended to help occupational health and safety experts check construction sites for critical areas in advance and plan appropriate safety measures.
In addition, the researchers note construction workers could be trained in VR and sensitized to dangers.
The team can use common three-dimensional models of construction sites as the basis for their representation in VR, which is the same technology found in video games to ensure the environment looks as realistic as possible. VR glasses enable users to explore the construction sites for which they will later be responsible. The RUB researchers say users also can interact with the environment, such as by lifting and carrying heavy objects, using controllers.
"As you have an unlimited number of lives in virtual reality, we can observe there precisely how the test subjects react before and after fatal accidents and when learning effects come in," says RUB postdoctoral researcher Thomas Hilfert.
From Ruhr University Bochum (Germany)
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