Social extended reality—use case entities on property life cycle

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) are collectively referred to as extended reality (XR). In recent years, the hardware and software of said technologies have developed to the point where multiuser experiences have been enabled; thus, the conversation surrounding social extended reality (SXR) has begun. SXR––or collaborative extended reality—has many possible use cases in a property’s life cycle, and the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry can be its forefront user. The AEC industry’s work assignments include visuality and multiple stakeholders; thus, the SXR’s level of applicability is high throughout the industry. Despite these possibilities, we need a more structured understanding of SXR use cases to aid in its deployment. The current research article examines and identifies the five key entities from those use cases: involving stakeholders in decision making, effective teamwork, remote assistance, training and simulation and sales and marketing; it also recognises the greatest potential entities for utilisation from a value-creation standpoint and considers the transferability of these entities to other business sectors. Qualitative empirical data were collected in twenty-one semi-structured interviews and three focus groups with professionals from the AEC industry. The focus groups and semi-structured interviews surveyed SXR’s use cases in the property life cycle, examined the situation of companies’ invocation of the technology and contemplated the benefits and obstacles of using SXR.