A Framework for Emergency Rescue Request on Construction Site in XR

Abstract

Human injuries at construction sites continue to be a persistent problem, which makes emergency rescue requests crucial in preventing further harm. Recently, XR technology, which facilitates seamless communication among users, has been employed in construction sites, and there has been an effort to prevent accidents and improve work performance. However, there is a lack of research on methods for interacting with users who have low XR literacy and handling the awareness of users during sudden accidents on construction sites. The paper presents a framework based on XR that addresses emergency rescue requests resulting from falls and collisions at construction sites, taking into account the XR technology literacy of users and users’ consciousness. If the user is conscious, an emergency rescue request can be initiated through hand movements or gaze, taking into account the user’s physical limitations. If the user is unconscious, an emergency request will be triggered by detecting a distress signal through the user’s head movements. The proposed framework has been implemented in a simple scenario and evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively. The results showed the effectiveness of the framework and it is expected to serve as a foundation for further research on safety in various accidents at construction sites using XR technology. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.