Journal of Information Technology in Construction
Journal of Information Technology in Construction
ITcon Vol. 31, pg. 301-331, http://www.itcon.org/2026/13
Multiuser immersive VR versus BIM platforms for remote AEC team collaboration
| DOI: | 10.36680/j.itcon.2026.013 | |
| submitted: | August 2025 | |
| published: | March 2026 | |
| editor(s): | Turk Z | |
| authors: | Bita Astaneh Asl, Assistant Professor
School of Engineering, California State University, East Bay bita.astanehasl@csueastbay.edu Tanmay Z. Tuscano, Master's Student School of Engineering, California State University, East Bay tanmaytuscano@gmail.com Ankith Prasad Muralidhar Sathyanarayana, Master's Student School of Engineering, California State University, East Bay ankith.prasad1998@gmail.com | |
| summary: | Advancements in immersive virtual reality (VR) raise new possibilities for multidisciplinary architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) team collaboration; however, the empirical basis for assessing its effectiveness remains insufficiently examined. This paper investigated whether avatar body language and 3D markup tools in a head-mounted display (HMD) VR platform improve remote AEC team performance compared to a Building Information Modeling (BIM) platform configured with equivalent navigation and communication features. A controlled counterbalanced experiment was conducted with ten teams, using a mixed-methods evaluation framework that incorporated meeting duration, decision-reporting accuracy, participant feedback, and observational analysis. The results showed that immersive VR significantly reduced average meeting duration by 26.7% and improved final decision-reporting accuracy compared to the BIM platform, while qualitative findings indicated that avatar embodiment and visual collaboration tools supported more effective coordination. These findings inform technology adoption decisions for AEC practitioners and advance the empirical foundation for researchers evaluating immersive VR as a coordination platform for distributed project teams. They further motivate future research aimed at refining immersive collaboration features and advancing their systematic evaluation to support evidence-based integration into AEC practice. | |
| keywords: | HMD VR, multiuser, BIM, multidisciplinary teams, remote collaboration, avatar | |
| full text: | (PDF file, 0.923 MB) | |
| citation: | Astaneh Asl, B., Tuscano, T. Z., & Muralidhar Sathyanarayana, A. (2026). Multiuser immersive VR versus BIM platforms for remote AEC team collaboration. Journal of Information Technology in Construction (ITcon), 31, 301-331. https://doi.org/10.36680/j.itcon.2026.013 | |
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