Investigating the Feasibility of Using Virtual Reality Devices to Present Construction Information in Both Mixed Reality and Virtual Reality Environments

Mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies are frequently recommended to present design models of construction projects to perform various visualization tasks, such as improving hazard identification training and constructability analysis. Significant financial investment is commonly highlighted as a major impediment to using these technologies, particularly MR. The cost of purchasing head-mounted display (HMD) hardware, such as Microsoft HoloLens for MR, Oculus Quest, or HTC Vive for VR, is substantial. However, the Oculus Quest manufacturer states that, due to recent software improvements, users can now deploy and run both MR and VR applications on the same Oculus Quest HMD, which was initially built only for the VR environment. This development appears to provide significant financial savings to those in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry who are interested in gaining access to MR and VR. This article explores the possibility of using the Oculus Quest device to deploy MR and VR environments in construction. First, 3D models required for the experiment were created using Autodesk Revit. Then two applications were created using the Unity game engine, the Mixed Reality Toolkit for MR, and the Oculus Quest software development kit for VR. To ensure that the results were comparable, only one type of device and one construction task model were used in MR and VR settings. The MR and VR functions of Oculus Quest HMD were tested. Data on performance and user feedback were collected and analyzed. MR was easier to use than VR for this particular experiment because MR allowed the user to walk freely and view the room in real time, better understand the task, and get better details, accuracy, and scale. This way, one device can provide both environments, MR and VR.