A smart objects library for BIM-based construction site and emergency management to support mobile VR safety training experiences

Purpose: Health and safety training via immersive virtual reality (VR) in the construction sector is still limited to few early adopters despite the benefits it could provide in terms of training effectiveness. To foster its adoption, in this work, the authors address the lack of an organized asset of digital contents dedicated to the production of VR site scenarios that emerged as one of the most limiting factors for the implementation of building information modeling (BIM) and VR for construction workers’ safety training. To improve this critically time-consuming process, a dedicated site object library is proposed. Design/methodology/approach: The development of the site object library for the production of BIM-based VR safety training experiences followed a four-step process: definition of the object list and categories from the analysis of heterogeneous knowledge sources – construction sectors’ regulations, case studies and site scenarios’ imagery; definition of the object requirements (e.g. information, graphics, sounds, animations and more); design of an object information sheet as a library implementation support tool; and library implementation and validation via collaborative VR sessions. Findings: This work provides the definition of a structured library of construction site objects dedicated to the production of VR scenarios for safety training comprising 168 items, implemented and validated. Originality/value: The research contributes to facilitate and standardize the time-consuming contents’ production and modeling process of site scenarios for VR safety training, addressing the lack of a dedicated site object library. Furthermore, the novel library framework could serve as a base for future extensions dedicated to other applications of VR site simulations (e.g. constructability analysis).