Tehrani, B M; Wang, J and Truax, D (2022) Assessment of mental fatigue using electroencephalography (EEG) and virtual reality (VR) for construction fall hazard prevention. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 29(9), pp. 3593-3616. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose: Despite the importance of cognitive monitoring, limited studies attempted to continuously monitor cognitive status of workers regarding mental fatigue effects on fall hazard. Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate and understand the effects of working at height on mental fatigue development for fall hazard prevention. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative framework using two well-known methods, i.e. Wavelet Packet Decomposition and Sample entropy, is developed to analyze the captured brain signals from Electroencephalography (EEG) to quantitatively assess mental fatigue levels, and seven mental fatigue indices were obtained. Between-subjects lab experiment was designed and conducted to assess mental fatigue in Virtual Reality (VR) environment. Findings: Both of the quantitative methods confirmed that height exposure can adversely affect subjects' vigilance levels and indicated higher levels of mental fatigue. Significant differences were found between the two tested groups (i.e. working at height or on the ground) for six out of seven indices. The results suggested that working-at-height group had higher mental fatigue levels. Research limitations/implications: One limitation of this study is the limited number of subjects recruited for the experiment. Overall, this study is a preliminary and exploratory work towards mental fatigue monitoring and assessment in subjects exposed to fall risk. Originality/value: This is the first study to explore and focus on mental fatigue assessment, particularly for construction falling-from-height hazard prevention by continuously monitoring mental fatigue levels of workers. The research provides insight into construction safety enhancement using smart technologies.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction safety; electroencephalography; fall hazard; fatigue; virtual reality |
| Index terms: | virtual reality, monitoring, prevention, entropy, experiment, fatigue, quantitative method, methodology, fall hazard, exposure, construction safety |
| Subjects: | thermal systems, environmental health, health conditions and diseases, financial risk, public and environmental health, research methods, health risk and incident analysis, data analysis and analytics, control systems, virtual reality, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Site Management, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Cost Management, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 CTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here