Information technology has become strongly established as a supporting tool for many professional tasks in the recent years. Virtual Reality (VR) simulations provide powerful teaching tools that can help learners digest complex concepts and retain them long after the session has ended. VR simulation is a natural concept for inclusion in construction engineering education. It eliminates the risks and costs associated with the real world, whilst enabling people to gain many professional experiences. This article sets the foundation for future research, focusing on developing VR simulations and games for teaching design and construction processes of a building project.

Virtual environments have been a focus of research interest for a number of years because of their potential applications in training, education, visualization, design and entertainment (Park and Wakefield, 2003). An important aspect of virtual environment systems is the realistic simulation of a 3D environment. VR is an emerging technology to simulate the real world on the computer and is being applied to many fields of industries and academia. The uses of VR make us transverse space and time to learn beyond physical constraints and in a more interactive environment that enhances the learning ability, especially on a complex project/topic.

Applied undergraduate studies always focus on experiential education as a core component. In a project-based learning environment, students work in teams to solve real-world problems. A virtual world assists such learning in a borderless environment, where the students can explore and learn, based on real life principles in the virtual world.

Construction projects are complex because they involve many human and non-human factors and variables. It is difficult to teach much of this in a traditional manner. It is also expensive and potentially dangerous to allow a person to learn management skills on a construction site. Simulation is, therefore, a perfect fit for training in this area (Arain and Burkle, 2009). VR simulations, if utilized in teaching and analyzing construction management processes, can save costs, while maintaining or even improving the performance and quality of learning process. VR simulation of construction and management processes is highly needed due to the escalating complexity of building projects.

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