Evaluating the Effectiveness of BIM-based Virtual Reality for Coordinating the Design Disciplines in a Building Renovation Project

The coordination process plays a vital role in construction projects during the design phase when interferences and clashes between design systems are identified to reduce the risk of costly reworks. Despite the fact that coordination has been studied commonly in BIM research, limited research has explored the impact of virtual reality (VR) to understand how it can enhance the process. This research study examined the effectiveness of coordination processes in a building renovation project following an innovative approach based on virtual environments (3D-BIM VR) compared to the conventional approach (2D CAD). This research uses the Cyclotron Charette Test method to analyse both approaches in terms of accuracy, speed, and usability. Fifteen participants from engineering backgrounds participated in the prototype testing divided into two experiments. The first experiment involved visually identifying clashes from multiple 2D CAD drawings, while the second involved visually identifying clashes from 3D-BIM-based VR models. The results showed that the virtual reality environment not only helped uncover clashes quickly but also made it more accurate and helpful. A further finding from this research indicates that motion sickness hinders users’’ participation in VR environments. Finally, future research pathways are discussed to improve the coordination process using VR technology