Search results

The anticipated strong growth of the infrastructure industry over the coming decades will require more modern, digital approaches to create data-centric infrastructure that allows infrastructure to be monitored and managed throughout its lifecycle. Digital twins (DTs) are currently at an early stage in terms of their implementation on infrastructure projects across the United Kingdom (UK). The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the current uptake of DTs in delivering infrastructure sector projects and how DTs can help contribute towards strengthening the industry.

A systematic literature review approach has been conducted with the research questions derived from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) article screening tool. In addition to this, inclusion and exclusion criteria have been used to screen irrelevant information and help streamline research documents. Following a screening of relevant information, 36 pieces of literature were reviewed in order to identify the key drivers, barriers, enabling technologies and use cases.

DTs have the potential to transform asset design, production and maintenance. However, to further advance the digital innovation in the UK infrastructure sector, further study is necessary. An emerging technology must be considered on a broader scale than just its technical aspects, particularly when it comes to DTs. With enabling technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors and artificial intelligence (AI), the uptake of DTs appears promising. While current literature indicates that DTs offer clear benefits in the infrastructure sector, the uptake is low and hindered by both technical and non-technical challenges.

This paper provides a rich insight into the understanding and awareness of the DTs in delivering infrastructure sector projects and how the infrastructure sector has evolved in order to develop new ways of designing, constructing, operating and monitoring infrastructure assets. This study contributes towards informing leaders in the sector of the current uptake of DTs within the UK's infrastructure sector as well as how DTs can contribute towards strengthening the industry.

In alignment with the European Union’s Vision Zero initiative to eliminate road fatalities by 2050, leveraging technological advancements becomes crucial for addressing the challenges of vulnerable road users (VRUs), and for mitigating the impact of human error. Despite increasing scholarly interest in applications of extended reality (XR), a research gap persists, particularly in the role of XR in transportation safety. Therefore, the aim of the study was to fill this gap through a systematic literature review to evaluate comprehensively the potential scope and practical applicability of XR technologies in enhancing the safety of VRUs.

A systematic review was undertaken, following PRISMA guidelines meticulously, in which 80 relevant articles from databases, such as Scopus and Science Direct, were identified and analysed.

The results of the analysis revealed the potential of XR beyond pedestrians and cyclists, and highlighted a lack of research about the impact of XR with regard to the personal traits or abilities of VRUs. The results of a thorough analysis confirmed the potential of XR as a promising solution for an approach to collaborative co-creation in addressing the safety challenges of VRUs. In addition, the integration of eye-tracking with virtual reality emerged as a promising innovation for enhancing the safety of vulnerable road users.

Theoretical implications include enhancing the understanding of applications of XR in VRUs’ safety and providing insights into future research possibilities and methodological approaches. Valuable insights into search strategies and inclusion-exclusion criteria can guide future research methodologies.

Practically, the findings from the study offer insights to assist urban planners and transportation authorities in incorporating XR technologies effectively for VRUs safety. Identifying areas for further development of XR technology could inspire innovation and investment in solutions designed to meet the safety needs of VRUs, such as enhanced visualisation tools and immersive training simulations.

The findings of previous research underscore the vast potential of XR technologies within the built environment, yet their utilisation remains limited in the urban transport sector. The intricacies of urban traffic scenarios pose significant challenges for VRUs, making participation in mobility studies hazardous. Hence, it is crucial to explore the scope of emerging technologies in addressing VRUs issues as a pre-requisite for establishing comprehensive safety measures.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the CSCW in collaborative 4D modelling and its user interface (UI)/interaction designs for prototyping. Four-dimensional (4D) modelling technology has potentials to integrate geographically dispersed planners to achieve collaborative construction planning. However, applying this technology in teamwork remains a challenge in computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW).

The research adopted user-centred design (UCD) methodology to investigate a usable 4D collaboration prototype through analysis, design and usability testing. By applying CSCW theories, it first clarified the meaning of 4D CSCW to formulate design propositions as design target. By leveraging UCD theories, subsequently, the first-stage research sought an optimal standalone 4D modelling prototype following a parallel design approach. At the second stage, it further investigated into a collaborative 4D modelling prototype using an iterative design. It adopted collaborative task analysis into the UI/interaction design extension for a collaborative prototype based on results obtained from the first stage. The final usability testing was performed on the collaborative prototype to evaluate the designed CSCW and UI in a controlled geographically dispersed teamwork situation.

The test results and user feedback verified their usability. It also disclosed design weaknesses in collaborators’ awareness and smooth tasks’ transitions for further enhancement.

The combination of CSCW and UCD theories is practical for designing collaborative 4D modelling. It can also benefit designs for collaborative modelling in other dimensions like cost analysis, sustainable design, facility management, etc. in building information modelling.