With advances in Building Information Modeling (BIM), Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies have many potential applications in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. However, the AEC industry, relative to other industries, has been slow in adopting AR/VR technologies, partly due to lack of feasibility studies examining the actual cost of implementation versus an increase in profit. The main objectives of this paper are to understand the industry trends in adopting AR/VR technologies and identifying gaps within the industry. The identified gaps can lead to opportunities for developing new tools and finding new use cases. To achieve these goals, two rounds of a survey at two different time periods (a year apart) were conducted. Responses from 158 industry experts and researchers were analyzed to assess the current state, growth, and saving opportunities for AR/VR technologies for the AEC industry. The findings demonstrate that older generations are significantly more confident about the future of AR/VR technologies and they see more benefits in AR/VR utilization. Furthermore, the research results indicate that Residential and commercial sectors have adopted these tools the most, compared to other sectors and institutional and transportation sectors had the highest growth from 2017 to 2018. Industry experts anticipated a solid growth in the use of AR/VR technologies in 5 to 10 years, with the highest expectations towards healthcare. Ultimately, the findings show a significant increase in AR/VR utilization in the AEC industry from 2017 to 2018.

Smart city programs provide a range of technologies that can be applied to solve infrastructure problems associated with ageing infrastructure and increasing demands. The potential for infrastructure and urban improvement remains unrealized, however, due to technical, financial, and social constraints and criticisms that limit the implementation of smart cities concepts for infrastructure management. The discussion presented here provides a review of smart technologies including sensors, crowdsourcing and citizen science, actuators, data transmission, Internet of Things, big data analytics, data visualization, and blockchain, which can be used for infrastructure management. Smart infrastructure programs are reviewed to explore how enabling technologies have been applied across civil engineering domains, including transportation systems, water systems, air quality, energy infrastructure, solid waste management, construction engineering and management, structures, and geotechnical systems. Gaps in the application of smart technologies for infrastructure systems are identified, and we highlight how the civil engineering profession can adopt new roles toward the development of smart cities applications. These roles are: (1) master designer: civil engineers can identify ready applications of enabling technologies to improve the delivery of urban resources and services; (2) steward: civil engineers must account for both the environmental and societal impacts of smart infrastructure applications; (3) innovator and integrator: civil engineers should integrate across diverse sectors and groups of experts to develop smart infrastructure programs; (4) manager of risk: civil engineers should manage existing and growing risks of natural disasters, emergencies, and climate change; they should also manage new vulnerabilities in the privacy and security of individuals and households that are introduced through smart technologies; and (5) leader and decision maker: civil engineers can take a lead in smart infrastructure discussions and policy development.

Purpose: Workers and construction professionals are generally not proficient in recognizing and managing safety hazards. Although valuable, traditional training experiences have not sufficiently addressed the issue of poor hazard recognition and management in construction. Since hazard recognition and management are cognitive skills that depend on attention, visual examination and decision-making, performance assessment and feedback in an environment that is realistic and representative of actual working conditions are important. The purpose of this paper is to propose a personalized safety training protocol that is delivered using robust, realistic and immersive environments.Design/methodology/approach: Two types of virtual environments were developed: (1) Stereo-panoramic environments using real construction scenes that were used to evaluate the performance of trainees accurately and (2) A virtual construction site, which was used to deliver various elements of instructional training. A training protocol was then designed that was aimed at improving the hazard recognition and management performance of trainees. It was delivered using the developed virtual environments. The effectiveness of the training protocol was experimentally tested with 53 participants using a before–after study.Findings: The results present a 39% improvement in hazard recognition and a 44% improvement in hazard management performance.Originality/value: This study combines the benefits of using a virtual environment for providing instructional training along with realistic environments (stereo-panoramic scenes) for performance assessment and feedback. The training protocol includes several new and innovative training elements that are designed to improve the hazard recognition and hazard management abilities of the trainees. Moreover, the effectiveness of training in improving hazard recognition and hazard management is measured using specific outcome variables.