Using Field of View and Eye Tracking for Feedback Generation in an Augmented Virtuality Safety Training

Safety is a major concern in the construction industry and studies show awareness training has one of the highest positive impact factors in reducing fatalities on construction sites. The main goal of the paper at hand is the creation of a fully immersive VR safety training combining several individual technologies to capture objective data as a reference point for personal feedback after the virtual training, such as motion tracking, eye tracking, augmented virtuality through a realistic power tool controller, and destructible elements within the virtual scene. The motivation for the presented concept is to increase the level of awareness on safety regulations and possible hazards due to oversights in the handling of power tools. The authors use immersive virtual reality technology to simulate real working processes and gather data in a quality seldomly matched by experiments in the real world. This is due to the amount of data generated by the intrinsic motion tracking of virtual reality devices combined with additional eye tracking hardware. In this paper, the authors describe their approach to create a construction safety training that generates precise data to enable individual feedback for the trainees. With requirements gathered in dialog with industry leaders and based on research conducted at the Ruhr-University Bochum the concept was implemented and tested at a craft worker education center. Elements of gamification serve as motivational purposes. In the developed life-like virtual environment, trainees assume the role of a maintenance technician to fulfill certain tasks. Both external factors (nearby workers, machinery, etc.) and internal factors (awareness, handling of tools) determine the success of the task and are therefore tracked and logged. Whenever trainees complete a virtual training, evaluation statistics are generated and can be retrieved by a trainer to offer individual feedback.