Investigating the Research Landscape of Virtual Reality in Built Environment Education on the African Continent: a Bibliometric Review

Pillay, Nischolan and Lawrence, Kiara and Gumbo, Trynos (2024) Investigating the Research Landscape of Virtual Reality in Built Environment Education on the African Continent: a Bibliometric Review. KEEP ON PLANNING FOR THE REAL WORLD. Climate Change calls for Nature-based Solutions and Smart Technologies. Proceedings of REAL CORP 2024, 29th International Conference on Urban Development, Regional Planning and Information Society. pp. 375-387. ISSN 2521-3938

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Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution brought disruptive changes that profoundly impacted all industries, promising revolutionary progress in ideologies and processes. Although this revolution casts a shadow of uncertainty, it brings great potential to improve how humanity will live, learn, work, and play in the future. Industry 4.0, like previous revolutions, significantly impacts the often-sluggish Construction Industry and, equally, the education of future construction professionals. Disruptions by technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), 3D Printing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) in various automated derivatives and other technologies have shown a significant impact on the design and creation of the Built Environment (BE). Consequently, education and training in Industry 4.0 systems are crucial for smooth progress in articulating the development of future professionals. In this research, the authors investigate the research landscape of virtual reality and BE education in an African context. An appropriately curated bibliometric review process is utilised to examine the current trends in this niche body of knowledge. The review process utilises exported data from Scopus using the terms ‘virtual reality’, ‘education’, ‘built environment’ and ‘Africa’ between 1998 and 2024. The exported data was then analysed using Vos Viewer software to illustrate the main keywords around the study area through network maps. Preliminary results reveal that VR technology in BE education is severely under-researched in Africa and globally. However, a steady incline in VR technology research reveals an increase of 719.73%. With due consideration of the importance of VR in an educational setting, the lack of research reveals not only an under-researched field but also an underutilised resource that has the potential to be incredibly impactful. Therefore, a recommendation is made to conduct empirical studies in educational settings using VR technology as part of the pedagogical approach to training future BE professionals.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: 4IR, biuilt environment, virtual reality, pedagogy, Africa
Subjects: Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Computer software
T Technology > TH Building construction
Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > Z665 Library Science. Information Science
Depositing User: REAL CORP Administrator
Date Deposited: 29 Apr 2024 07:35
Last Modified: 10 May 2024 09:25
URI: http://repository.corp.at/id/eprint/1103

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