Design and Implementation of VR-ERGOEXO: A Virtual Reality Platform for Enhancing Ergonomic Compliance and Posture in Wearable Exoskeleton-Assisted Construction Tasks

The construction industry is characterized by physically demanding tasks that frequently result in high incidences of musculoskeletal disorders, fatigue, and workplace injuries. These ergonomic challenges pose substantial risks to worker safety, productivity, and long-term health. Wearable robotic exoskeletons have emerged as a promising solution to mitigate these risks by enhancing worker safety, efficiency, and ergonomic performance. However, the complex biomechanical integration of exoskeletons requires precise movements and postures, making specialized training essential to ensure ergonomic compliance and optimize posture alignment. Despite the increasing adoption of exoskeletons, research on effective training methods remains limited, particularly regarding immersive ergonomic practices essential for optimizing exoskeleton performance and ensuring safe and sustainable integration into physically demanding tasks. To address this gap, this study developed an interactive virtual reality (VR)-based training platform designed to simulate realistic construction scenarios and tasks. The platform provides a controlled, immersive environment where workers can practice ergonomic movements while receiving real-time feedback on posture and biomechanics through a vision-based ergonomic evaluation system. The effectiveness of the VR-based training is evaluated through quantitative analyses of biomechanical posture metrics and qualitative insights gathered from participant feedback. Key findings demonstrate that VR-based training significantly improves ergonomic awareness and proficiency, as evidenced by up to a 14.0% decrease in task completion time and 24.4% reduction in time-series rapid entire body assessment scores and positive subjective evaluations, including perceived usefulness (6.18/7), perceived ease of use (6.28/7), and intention to use (5.83/7). This study contributes to enhancing construction safety and efficiency by demonstrating how immersive technologies can bridge the gap between advanced equipment adoption and workforce training, enabling safer, more productive, and ergonomically optimized practices in modern industrial environments.