Co-design and evaluation with construction workers of a virtual reality and force feedback modalities for gesture training

Abstract Construction is one of the sectors most at risk in terms of health and safety. The social security system attributes more than 14\% of the accidents recorded in 2018 to the construction sector. In addition to safety risks, construction workers are exposed to occupational diseases. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are at the top list of the most frequent occupational diseases. In order to address these issues, construction companies have implemented health and safety policy to protect their employees. This policy provides, among other things, for an improvement in the organizational aspect of work, the adaptation of work to people and training. Training is carried out according to a classic methodology: theoretical and practical training. The training represents constraints of cost, duration and organization. The content must be adapted to specific profiles, be repeatable and allow the trainers to assess the level of the trainees. For training on the right gestures and posture to avoid the risk of MSDs, the impact of virtual reality (VR) training is less relevant due to the lack of haptic feedback. In this article, we propose to evaluate with the construction workers a new training methodology based on visual immersion and a robotic platform for haptic interaction with motion tracking. This methodology is evaluated for a particular task: the formwork panel adjustment, a highly risky operation on a highly sensitive tool.We believe that this approach would allow to better engage the construction workers during training on the formwork, to ensure their safety and awareness of MSD risks. The objective through this method is to enable the construction workers to understand the risks linked to their job, to train them to avoid risks, and to enable the trainer to benefit from a tool for monitoring and supporting the construction workers. In order to validate the methodology, experiments were conducted and questionnaires were submitted to two profiles of people: novices and professionals. This experimentation shows an acceptance of the solution by the construction workers.