Abstract:
After an earthquake, an urgent visual inspection is required to assess structural
damages. Previous research has relied on the use of advanced technologies such as
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Augmented Reality (AR) to either replace or
facilitate visual inspection. However, none of these efforts targeted training inspectors
prior to inspection. As a matter of fact, damage inspection is prone to subjectivity and
necessitates proper training in order to deliver accurate results. This includes using
passive traditional training methods, such as technical manuals (TM) and multimedia
films (MF). Recently, game-based virtual learning has started gaining attention by
offering opportunities to facilitate the learning process and improve training
performance. Nonetheless, no research has yet adopted serious games to boost
traditional damage inspection training and facilitate post-earthquake safety evaluation.
Therefore, this research takes the first steps and aims at developing a serious game to
replicate a real-world inspection process by allowing users to walk through a virtual
environment and perform a typical field survey of damages.
More specifically, game scenes are created with different damage levels of a typical
reinforced concrete moment-resisting frame building while relying on data from the
Applied Technology Council (ATC-20) and Greek reports. The game includes training
and assessment tools. In the training tool, the user learns about damage types and
severities and fills building inspection forms. In the assessment tool, the user assesses
his/her knowledge by inspecting 20 buildings with different safety conditions. The
gaming tool was tested on 30 civil engineers who enjoyed the learning process and
conveyed that navigating and inspecting within the virtual world can potentially
enhance their performance in a real-world context.
