Investigating visual attention shifts between robots and hazards during construction tasks: a virtual reality eye-tracking analysis

Purpose Effective hazard recognition on construction sites relies heavily on workers’ visual attention; however, the presence of emerging systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) may divert this attention away from hazards. Despite the growing integration of robots into construction operations, there remains a lack of empirical evidence on how these systems reallocate workers’ gaze between hazards and robotic elements. Design/methodology/approach The present study employed a virtual reality (VR) environment integrated with eye-tracking to quantify the attentional trade-offs between hazards and robots. Twenty-eight participants completed hazard identification tasks in two controlled scenarios: one without robots (baseline) and one featuring UAVs and UGVs. Fixation count and duration metrics were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to assess attentional allocation differences. Findings Results revealed significant changes in visual attention patterns when robots were present. Participants exhibited shorter fixation durations on hazards but increased fixation counts, indicating more frequent but briefer glances. Notably, within the robot-present scenario, participants fixated on robots five times longer than on hazards, highlighting a pronounced attentional shift toward robotic elements in the environment. Originality/value These findings provide new insight into the cognitive implications of human–robot interaction in construction, demonstrating that robotic presence can unintentionally compromise hazard recognition through strong attentional capture. This work offers critical evidence to guide the design of attention-aware robotic deployment strategies, targeted worker training programs and safety protocols for future human–robot collaborative construction environments.