Hesselink, L; Vahdatikhaki, F; Harmsen, Y and Voordijk, H (2024) Usability analysis of virtual-reality-enabled digital twin for the inspection of sewage pumping stations. International Journal of Construction Management, 24(13), pp. 1419-1430. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
The use of Digital Twin (DT) for asset management has been considered for a while. While significant scientific and development work has been done on the technical feasibility of DT-based inspection of assets, very little attention has been paid to the expectations of inspectors from such systems and how these systems are actually appreciated by the end-users. In other words, from a practical standpoint, there is very little insight into the usability aspect of DT and how data is best presented to the end user. To address these limitations, this research aims to investigate the usability of a VR-enabled DT platform for the inspection of a sewage pumping station. A prototype was developed and a case study was performed to validate the framework from the usability perspective. Based on the results from the validation, an increase in the efficiency, comprehensibility, and usability of the inspection practices was observed. This attests to the great potential of the proposed framework for improving infrastructure inspections.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | digital twin; industrial assets; inspection; sensory data; virtual reality |
| Index terms: | platform, validation, case study, asset management, inspection, efficiency, sewage, virtual reality, prototype, digital twin, end user, usability |
| Subjects: | modelling and simulation, waste management, digital design, user-centered design, quality assurance, performance management, asset management, data collection methods, professional development, virtual reality, stakeholder, digital engineering |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Sustainability, Quality Management, Design Practice, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Digital Applications, Roles and Professions, Information Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
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