The impact of engineering information formats on learning and execution of construction operations: A virtual reality pipe maintenance experiment

Abstract

Given the increasing complexity of construction tasks, and the growing number of construction operations within confined workplaces, construction workers rely heavily on working memory. In this context, working memory is defined as the short-term and temporary storage of information related to near future events to ensure the seamless execution of construction tasks. Although a strong relationship between engineering information format and task performance has been observed in the relevant literature, there remains an obvious theoretical disagreement—in particular, about the cognitive mechanisms for explaining why different information formats affect working memory development and retrieval in distinct ways. This study presents a human–subject experiment (n = 120) to examine the impact of information format on the performance of a pipe maintenance task, and the implications of cognitive costs in both working memory development (information encoding) and retrieval (information recalling). Participants were required to review the operational instructions for a pipe maintenance task for a short period, and then perform the task from memory. Participants were divided into four groups depending on the format of information they received: 2D isometric drawing of the plate heat exchanger with bulleted-text operational instructions (2D-simple group); 2D isometric drawing of the plate heat exchanger with rich-text operational instruction (2D-complex group); an interactive 3D model of the plate heat exchanger with bulleted-text operational instructions (3D group); or an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environment with bulleted-text operational instructions (VR group). The results indicated that 3D and VR groups outperformed 2D-simple and 2D-complex groups in both operation time and maintenance accuracy. A further cognitive load analysis (based on surveys and pupil dilation) suggested that the superior performance of these groups is driven by more efficient usage of working memory, measured by how easily the encoded information can be recalled in the operation phase. Larger pupil dilation during encoding, indicative of successful working memory formation, was associated with better subsequent performance. These findings provide more evidence about cognitive mechanisms engaged by different information formats, help to resolve the current theoretical disagreement within the construction literature, and may inspire designs of cognition-driven information systems that can improve working memory in construction workers.