Jobsite safety: Virtual reality could train workers to avoid dangers

Ryan Ahn, associate professor of construction science, is looking to improve jobsite safety by developing a research-based, virtual reality training environment to reduce workers’ underestimation of job site hazards.  

This project will generate knowledge regarding how a VR-enabled safety training environment can effectively interrupt workers’ habituated behaviors, transforming current injury prevention strategies from a knowledge transfer-focused safety training model to a behavior-focused, data-driven safety training model.  

Ahn, the project’s principal investigator, is teaming with Texas A&M scholars Brian Anderson, co-principal investigator and associate professor of psychological and brain sciences, and Namgyun Kim, who is pursuing an architecture doctoral degree with an emphasis on construction science.