The construction industry is dramatically changing with the use of digitalisation an essential part of an efficient modern workforce. It’s an exciting time to be working in the sector with technology now a fundamental part of how construction projects are run. To keep up with this pace of change, Irish construction professionals need to upskill across a range of digital construction areas including Building Information Modelling (BIM), drones, robotics, and virtual reality (VR).

One tool that has gained immense popularity in upskilling and training is virtual reality. This hands-on approach to learning engages students in a way that traditional methods cannot. Incorporating virtual reality into classroom settings has proven to be highly effective in enhancing the learning experience. Not only does it make education more interactive and engaging, but it also caters to different learning styles. It also allows for more personalised learning experiences, where students can learn at their own pace and explore topics that interest them the most. These innovations aim to enhance and streamline the learning experience for students while also providing valuable support to the construction industry.

DASBE has developed and piloted a suite of Virtual Reality (VR) solutions. These VR tools, which have been developed by TUS, focus on how these technologies can be used in health & safety, defects detection and demonstrating installation and maintenance of photovoltaic panels (PV) and heat pumps. One practical application of VR is the DASBE defects tool that students use to detect defects on old traditional buildings. Such buildings may not be accessible due to safety concerns. Using this tool, students can gain confidence finding defects in an old building without risking accidents.

DASBE VR solutions have been incorporated into several of our partner programmes, e.g. the VR defects solution in the Certificate in Energy Renovation of Traditional Buildings, and the newly validated Certificate in 3D Content & Assets for Virtual Reality.

One of our VR experts, Stephen Bolger takes us through the DASBE VR prototypes. The DASBE VR project aims to design, develop and test a number of Virtual Reality (VR) prototypes to support the delivery and assessment of existing and new programmes.

For a full list of DASBE programmes please visit www.dasbe.ie/programmes