Thanks to virtual reality, which can be used to simulate at-risk situations under conditions that are close to real life but pose no actual danger, Bouygues Construction’s site workers will be made aware of hazards and trained using realistic practical cases. This will help them anticipate and perform better when faced with hazardous and at-risk situations.

Hervé Fontaine, Vice President, Virtual Reality B2B and Business Development at HTC Vive, said: “Bouygues Construction has already shown itself to be a pioneer with regard to virtual reality applications for visualising buildings and structures before construction and making more informed choices during the design phase. It was obvious that our collaboration could go further with respect to aspects relating to construction sites, safety and training. The Vive Business Edition will enable Bouygues Construction to roll out its virtual reality trainings in its internal network. The recent arrival of Vive Tracker, which makes it possible to use real objects as tools within virtual reality training modules, opens up very interesting possibilities for training that deals with at-risk situations in an extremely convincing way.”

Roland Le Roux, Head of Virtual Reality and Open Innovation at Bouygues Construction, said: “Virtual reality is proving extremely popular in property development, architecture and the design of structures. The whole purpose of the collaboration between Vive and Bouygues Construction is to bring virtual and augmented reality into the universe of construction sites and the operation of buildings and structures. In these areas, the Vive Business Edition system is clearly the most effective tool and the one that is closest to our needs, particularly because of its range of accessories.”

As anyone who has had the experience of donning a Vive virtual reality headset and standing above a virtual precipice or in the virtual path of a fast-moving car will attest, the sensations of vertigo or fear that are created are extremely realistic.

Sensory immersion makes it possible to simulate a falling object onsite, a fire, a missing safety barrier or the effect of having your capacities reduced by drink or drugs so that, in a risk-free environment, people can experience accidents that would have heavy consequences in real life.

Future development is leading to the manipulation of real objects in the virtual world, thanks in particular to research recently launched for a doctoral thesis, as well as to human interactions that could make distance learning possible, especially with regard to high-risk tasks.

This innovation will be presented on Bouygues Construction’s stand at the BIM World exhibition on March 29 and 30, 2017, at the Espace Grande Arche at Paris-La Défense. Watch it via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4tsYAk__oM