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A VR training system for learning and skills development for construction workers

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Abstract

There is a looming shortage of well-trained professionals in the wood construction workforce. To challenge this shortage, we developed a simulated learning environment that leverages a novel Virtual Reality (VR) system to train novice workers in wooden wall construction. A comprehensive task analysis was first used to best identify training requirements. Then, a virtual building site was modeled and a 3D video tutorial was implemented using a VR Head-Mounted Display (HMD). To evaluate the effectiveness of this tool, participants who learned via the VR training tool were compared with participants who instead only had simple 2-D instructional video training. VR training resulted in better retention, task performance, learning speed, and engagement than the video training counterpart, maintaining system usability. This demonstrates that VR is a viable training tool for the construction sector and can produce benefits beyond those of traditional video training.

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Acknowledgements

The research presented in this paper was supported by the project “Development and Evaluation of an Advanced MR Solution for Manufacturing Training" funded by Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center Research and Development. The author Tilt Azara Betony was supported by the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and the Arts (URSA) program sponsored by the Oregon State University. The author Eric Prather was supported by the Research and Extension Experience for Undergraduates (REEU) via the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering (DIN), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Francesco Osti & Alfredo Liverani

  2. School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

    Raffaele de Amicis & Eric Prather

  3. School of Psychological Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

    Christopher A. Sanchez

  4. School of Mechanical Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

    Azara Betony Tilt

Authors
  1. Francesco Osti
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  2. Raffaele de Amicis
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  3. Christopher A. Sanchez
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  4. Azara Betony Tilt
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  5. Eric Prather
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  6. Alfredo Liverani
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Correspondence to Raffaele de Amicis.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Task analysis for wall construction

Main target skill To be able to build a WLF wall with a door.

Tasks:

  1. 1.

    Recognize the materials.

    Knowledge acquired: names of WLF components.

    Subtask:

    1. a.

      primary materials: studs (common studs/king studs), top plate(s), bottom plate;

    2. b.

      secondary materials: other studs (jack studs, cripple studs), door, lintel (header), sill trimmer, sheaths(panels).

  2. 2.

    Wall layout.

    Skills acquired: marking studs properly to set the given wall layout.

    Knowledge acquired: “16 on center” rule.

    Subtask:

    1. a.

      Set the position of the door centerline on the top plate and bottom plate;

    2. b.

      Loot at door datasheet to mark both the right and the left half span of the door rough opening;

    3. c.

      Mark the jack studs’ thickness and king studs’ thickness beside the door span;

    4. d.

      Check the header size by measuring the internal distance between king studs;

    5. e.

      Define the studs spacing with the “16 on center” rule: The centerline of every stud is 16 inches from the top and bottom plates edge. Take the measurement every 16 inches but mark 1 inch to the left, since the studs are 2 inches wide. Mark these studs as king studs on the right with a cross. The “16 on center” rule is used in order to have the sheathing sheet edge in the middle of the stud;

    6. f.

      The studs laying in the door opening are cripple studs, mark these studs as cripple studs on the right with a capital “C”;

    7. g.

      For every marker, mark the actual studs’ width, 2 inch, to prevent misalignments. Drawing the whole stud location creates less confusion;

    8. h.

      Mark the end studs 2 inches from the edge;

    9. i.

      Double check whether studs’ centerlines are every 16 inches;

    10. j.

      Wall layout is completed.

  3. 3.

    Wall framing.

    Skills acquired: nailing properly, avoiding studs splitting; toe nailing; creating a straight corner spot; proper clamp usage.

    Knowledge acquired: causes of wavy sheathing and best practices to avoid it; toe nailing.

    Subtasks:

    1. a.

      When transferring the top and bottom plates, bring them together, put them on the floor and separate them in order to have a mirrored image of every marker on the top and bottom plate. This prevents edge flipping.

    2. b.

      Always frame the openings first, if applicable, because you need to nail the king studs to the header when you have full access to king studs;

    3. c.

      Check and put the studs with studs’ crowns in the same direction. This prevents the wall from being wavy in the sheathing stage;

    4. d.

      Start nailing the bottom plate to the jack stud with two nails. Pay attention to align the jack stud to the markers on the bottom plate in order to hammer the nails in the middle of the stud. The position of the nails must be ¾ of an inch from the edge of the bottom plate, in order to have enough material and avoid plate splitting. Moreover, the edges of the jack studs and the bottom plate must be flush in order to avoid wavy sheathing;

    5. e.

      Repeat this operation with the other jack stud and the two side-door king studs.

    6. f.

      Nail king studs and jack studs together in order to have the front facing surfaces flush and smooth. Nails must be angled with respect to the length of the studs in order to avoid the nails coming through the second stud;

    7. g.

      Nail the header with three nails per side, six in total. Keep the header surface nice and flush with the edge surface of the king stud;

    8. h.

      Nail the top plate in the corresponding position of the bottom plate markers, keeping the surface smooth and flush, nails ¾ of an inch from the top plate edge;

    9. i.

      Measure the gap between the header and the top plate nearby the king studs and cut the cripple studs according to that measurement;

    10. j.

      Pose the cripple studs in the gap and nail them to the top plate with 2 nails;

    11. k.

      Nail the cripple studs to the header performing a toe nailing. Put the nail 1 inch above the cripple stud edge with a 60° angle, use a second hammer to slightly lift the cripple and nail through the cripple stud up to the header. The lifting of the cripple stud will make the cripple stud is smooth and flush with the header surface;

    12. l.

      Nail all the other studs with two nails to the bottom plate and two nails to the top plate, ¾ of an inch from the edge;

    13. m.

      Nail the ending studs to both ends of the wall;

    14. n.

      Create the corner post with a stud lying flat. A curved stud used in a corner post will bend the entire wall. Use a straight stud in order to create a straight and sharp corner. Nail the corner flat stud to the bottom and top plates with two nails;

    15. o.

      Using a clamp to hold them together, nail the corner flat stud to the end wall stud with three nails.

  4. 4.

    Wall sheathing.

    Skills acquired: wall sheathing; best practices to properly align sheathings; proper usage of circular saw to cut sheathings.

    Knowledge acquired: maximize wall shear strength; exploitation of the perfectly square edges of factory sheathing; safe usage of circular saw.

    Subtasks:

    1. a.

      Perform wall sheathing with the wall lying on the ground. The main benefits of this procedure are that the wall is perfectly square. The sheathing is placed horizontally with respect to the studs, in order to maximize shear strength;

    2. b.

      Before starting sheathing, check if the bottom plate is perfectly straight by putting the wall so that it is aligned with the floor, using the floor as a reference, and double checking with a chalk line if the bottom plate is perfectly straight. If the bottom plate is curved, that curvature will remain in the final wall;

    3. c.

      Before starting sheathing, check if the wall is square by measuring the diagonals of the wall section. If the diagonals are of the same length, the wall is perfectly square;

    4. d.

      Measure the thickness of the floor system, without foundations. This thickness will be the offset of the first row of sheathing and the overhang sheathing will be used to nail the external sheathing to the floor system;

    5. e.

      Mark the position of the sheathing top edges, subtracting the offset, onto the studs with a chalk line. This will be the reference for the top line of sheathing along all over the wall;

    6. f.

      Check the studs position to find out the sheathing layout by using the “16 on center” rule and determine if the sheathing layout is right to left or vice versa;

    7. g.

      Put the rougher side of the sheathing up in order to have it on the outside of the wall;

    8. h.

      Align the sheathing edges with the end wall stud and check if the other sheathing edge is overlapping one half of a stud;

    9. i.

      Pay attention to align the edge of the sheathing sheet with the end wall stud. The sheathing is cut at the factory so the sheathing sheets are perfectly square. If the first sheathing sheet is perfectly aligned, all the subsequent sheets will be aligned;

    10. j.

      Nail the first sheathing sheet to the end wall stud, starting with the corners;

    11. k.

      Nail the edge of the first sheathing sheet to the end wall stud every 6 inches;

    12. l.

      Nail the other edge corners to the penultimate overlapping studs, aligning the top edge with the chalk line. This prevents the hammer from hitting and ruining the perfectly straight edge of the sheathing sheet and allows the edge to be used as reference for the next sheathing sheet;

    13. m.

      After nailing all the corners, nail the whole sheet to the other studs with a nail every 8 inches;

    14. n.

      Put the second sheathing sheet beside the first and align the bottom edge carefully. Every misalignment will be magnified in the sheathing second row;

    15. o.

      Nail the two sheathing sheets along the seam, angling the nails towards the center of the studs in order to have enough wood and to avoid stud splitting;

    16. p.

      If the second sheathing sheet is longer than the wall, use the chalk line to mark the limit and use the circular saw to cut it. Support the overhanging edge. Adjust the blade depth so that it is equal to the thickness of the sheathing sheet, in this way, if the saw does not follow the chalk line, it will not cut the end wall stud. Perform this operation while the circular saw is not plugged into the socket for safety reasons;

    17. q.

      Repeat all the steps for the second raw of sheathing. Pay attention to alternate the long sheets and short sheets one above the other to maximize shear strength.

  5. 5.

    Wall standing.

    Skills acquired: temporary bracing for wall standing.

    Knowledge acquired: wall standing procedure.

    Subtasks:

    1. a.

      Before starting to lifting the wall, talk with all the workers in order to inform them about the procedure to follow. Lifting the wall could be dangerous, especially if you use volunteers during the lifting;

    2. b.

      Put the wall at a certain distance from the floor edge to prevent the sheathing overhanging edge to hit the floor system while lifted up;

    3. c.

      A person every 6 feet of wall length is required;

    4. d.

      Be sure that nobody is in front of the wall: the wall can fall or slip while lifted;

    5. e.

      If the wall begins to fall, the lifters must not try to hold the wall. They must let it fall to prevent injuries;

    6. f.

      Once lifted, make sure the ending studs are perfectly aligned with the corners of the floor;

    7. g.

      Use a dead blow hammer to bring the overhanging sheathing panel in contact with the floor system;

    8. h.

      If the wall springs back, use a nail to fix the position of the sheathing panel to the floor. Nail also in the center of the wall and in the opposite corner;

    9. i.

      Move to the internal side of the wall and nail the bottom stud to the rim joist underneath the floor. Nail near the sheathing in order to be sure to nail to the rim joist. Nail the bottom stud at the corners and beside the door king studs;

    10. j.

      Take a 2 × 4 stud, put it diagonally from an intermediate king stud to the floor. Be sure to put the stud in the upper side of the king stud, ¾ or higher, in order to maintain the wall plumb;

    11. k.

      Nail the stud to the king stud, not to the floor.

    12. l.

      Use a long level to roughly set plumb the nearest corner. The more ending stud surface the level touches, the better.

    13. m.

      Once the wall is plumb, nail a piece of wood to the floor near the other stud end. Be sure to nail the scrap piece of wood to a floor joist because all the wall weight will be sustained by this temporary bracing;

    14. n.

      Fix the position of the nail to the stud but do not nail completely, just set the position;

    15. o.

      Return to the wall corner and adjust the wall plumb;

    16. p.

      The nearest lifter must maintain the position while you nail the stud to the scrap piece of wood;

    17. q.

      Nail the stud to the floor temporary bracing;

Repeat the procedure for the other corner.

Appendix 2: Pre-training and post-training questionnaire

Ten questions for the pre-training test are selected from the list below. Questions are divided for each task. The questionnaire has two questions for each task.

2.1 Task 1: Recognize the material

  1. 1.

    Can you list the names of all studs used in the wall framing process?

    If Yes:

  2. 2.

    Can you describe the difference between king studs and jack studs?

    If Yes:

  3. 3.

    Can you draw the layout of a wall with a framed door?

If Yes:

2.2 Task 2: Wall layout

  1. 1.

    Can you write the “16 on center” rule?

    If yes:

  2. 2.

    Can you say how king studs, jack studs and cripple studs are marked on the top/bottom plate during layout?

    If Yes:

  3. 3.

    Can you say where you retrieve the length of the door rough opening?

    If Yes:

  4. 4.

    Can you say which component has the same length of the door rough opening?

    If Yes:

  5. 5.

    With respect to the length of sheathing panels, can you explain why the “16 on center” rule is implemented?

    If Yes:

  6. 6.

    Can you say why you mark both sides of the studs onto the top and bottom plate?

If Yes:

2.3 Task 3: Wall framing

  1. 1.

    Can you say what toe nailing is?

    If Yes:

  2. 2.

    Can you say when toe nailing is applied?

    If Yes:

  3. 3.

    Can you say what distance from the stud edge you should nail to avoid the stud splitting?

    If Yes:

  4. 4.

    Can you describe one method to prevent wavy sheathing?

    If Yes:

  5. 5.

    With respect to the execution procedure and the goals, Can you describe the difference between nailing and toe nailing?

    If Yes:

  6. 6.

    Can you say why the studs are laid down with crowns in the same direction?

    If Yes:

  7. 7.

    Can you say why toe nailing is applied?

If Yes:

2.4 Task 4: Wall sheathing

  1. 1.

    Can you list best practices to properly align sheathing?

    If Yes:

  2. 2.

    Can you define what the shear strength is?

    If Yes:

  3. 3.

    Can you say the first thing to do when adjusting the blade depth of a circular saw?

    If Yes:

  4. 4.

    Can You say what it is used as a reference to align the sheathing panel with the studs?

    If Yes:

  5. 5.

    Can you say why using the edges of factory sheathing to align sheathing panels?

    If Yes:

  6. 6.

    Can you say how to maximize shear strength using sheathing panels?

    If Yes:

  7. 7.

    Can you say why the blade depth is set equal to the panel thickness?

If Yes:

2.5 Task 5: Wall standing

  1. 1.

    Can you list safety precautions for a wall standing procedure?

    If Yes:

  2. 2.

    Can you say how many workers are required to stand a 6 feet wall?

    If Yes:

  3. 3.

    Can you say what it can happen when lifting a wall?

    If Yes:

  4. 4.

    Can you say why it is necessary to use a long level instead of a short one?

    If Yes:

  5. 5.

    Can you say what the workers should do, if the wall starts falling?

    If Yes:

  6. 6.

    Can you say where you should nail the temporary braces on the floor?

    If Yes:

  7. 7.

    Can you say why the wall is lifted with a gap between the bottom plate and the edge of the floor system?

    If Yes:

  8. 8.

    Can you say why the temporary brace should be nailed to the higher part of the wall studs?

If Yes:

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Osti, F., de Amicis, R., Sanchez, C.A. et al. A VR training system for learning and skills development for construction workers. Virtual Reality 25, 523–538 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-020-00470-6

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