| Author: | Luo, Yanfang |
| Title: | Exploring the cognitive process of hazard recognition behaviors underlying the mechanism of situation awareness : using virtual reality interactive system and physiological sensors |
| Advisors: | Seo, JoonOh (BRE) Li, Heng (BRE) |
| Degree: | Ph.D. |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Subject: | Construction industry -- Safety measures Situational awareness Cognition Human engineering Virtual reality Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of Building and Real Estate |
| Pages: | 217 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Construction sites are inherently hazardous environments where timely hazard recognition is crucial for maintaining safety. Despite this, the cognitive mechanisms underlying hazard recognition—specifically how workers perceive, comprehend, and anticipate hazards—remain underexplored. These cognitive mechanisms are closely linked to the theoretical model of situation awareness (SA). Therefore, investigating hazard recognition from an SA perspective can provide insights into why workers fail to identify hazards and which steps in the process are problematic. Virtual reality (VR) systems offer advanced and popular solutions for simulating and controlling environments without exposing individuals to real danger, making them ideal for studying the cognitive mechanisms of hazard recognition. However, research on the impact of different VR components on user experience and task performance is limited. VR systems consist of three main components: the VR headset itself (display fidelity), the simulated VR content or environments (scenario fidelity), and the interactive devices outside VR (interaction fidelity). This thesis first examined both scenario fidelity and interaction fidelity, as these are more easily controlled by researchers. The results indicated that changes in scenario fidelity (i.e., the VR environment) had a significant impact on the sense of presence and task completion time, while interaction fidelity did not significantly affect these factors. After identifying scenario fidelity as the predominant VR component, multiple hazard recognition VR scenarios were developed to investigate their effects on individuals' cognitive processes during hazard recognition. Eye-tracking technology and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) were employed to explore eye movement behaviors and brain activations during VR hazard recognition. Eye movement data revealed distinct patterns of perception and comprehension time corresponding to different hazard types. Individuals allocated more time to hazards when encountering them for the first time, and pupil dilation only occurred when hazards were successfully recognized. Regarding brain activation, the left prefrontal cortex (LPFC) and right visual cortex (RVC) showed increased activity when participants achieved higher levels of SA. Various activation patterns were observed at different SA levels, and brain connectivity among different regions strengthened as SA levels increased during hazard recognition. These findings provide a solid foundation for understanding the hazard recognition cognitive processes underlying the SA mechanism, thus offering a theoretical basis for developing customized training systems tailored to address deficiencies in any SA levels. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
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