About

Steven Ayer is an associate professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. He serves as the Faculty Director for Civil Engineering Construction Engineering and Management and runs the Emerging Technologies Building Information Modeling Lab. His research explores new and emerging electronic technologies, including augmented reality, virtual reality, and other tools, with a focus on how these technologies can improve the delivery of building projects. His team emphasizes human performance in their studies, aiming to empower human users through technological innovation. Ayer’s work encompasses the utilization of technology in various areas such as construction management, architectural design, field communication, and facility management. His research is supported by federal, state, and industrial funding, enabling the collection of data that contributes both scientifically and practically to the field.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Engineering
• Human–computer interaction
• Systems engineering
• Knowledge management
• Construction engineering

Selected publications

• Enhancing construction safety training through emotion-eliciting virtual reality

  Engineering Construction & Architectural Management · 2026-03-30

  article

  Purpose This study explores the potential of virtual reality (VR) to enhance construction safety training by eliciting critical emotional responses, particularly in novices lacking firsthand experience with hazardous scenarios. By targeting emotions like fear and distress, VR aims to improve hazard recognition and foster risk-averse behaviors, addressing gaps in traditional training methods. Design/methodology/approach The study involved 55 construction management students using a VR simulation integrated with haptic feedback to replicate accident scenarios. Emotional responses were measured through galvanic skin response (GSR) metrics, pre- and post-experience self-reported questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Participants navigated a virtual construction site, identified hazards and experienced a simulated accident to assess emotional and behavioral impacts. Findings The VR simulation significantly increased emotional arousal, with GSR data showing a strong effect size and significant increases in distress, guilt, fear and shame. Participants reported heightened empathy, guilt and responsibility during post-VR interviews. These findings suggest that VR effectively engages users emotionally, bridging the experiential gap in traditional training by replicating hazardous scenarios with high realism and impact. Practical implications The study highlights VR's potential as a scalable, immersive training tool for eliciting emotional and physiological precursors associated with risk-averse decision-making in the construction industry. By evoking anticipatory emotions theorized to influence risk perception, VR may help prepare novices to engage more cautiously with hazardous scenarios, though the link between these precursors and actual safety behavior requires field validation. Originality/value This research provides empirical evidence of VR's capability to elicit emotional responses that influence decision-making in hazardous environments. It offers valuable insights for developing innovative, emotionally engaging safety training programs for the construction sector.

  PublisherDOI

• Bringing reality to virtual reality: the role of environmental richness in improving construction practitioners’ VR experience

  Construction Innovation · 2025-11-18 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Purpose This study aims to investigate how environmental richness in virtual construction environments influences construction practitioners’ behavior and presence. It aims to identify elements within these environments that significantly contribute to an enhanced sense of presence, addressing the gap in understanding the relationship between environmental richness and ecological validity in virtual safety training. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods study involving 28 full-time construction practitioners was conducted. Participants navigated two virtual environments – a “rich” version with nonhazardous, realistic details and a “bare” version with minimal environmental richness. Data were collected through eye-tracking, positional analysis, presence questionnaires and semistructured interviews. The study used exploratory, confirmatory and explanatory analyses to evaluate behavioral impacts, statistical differences in presence scores and thematic insights into participants’ experiences. Findings Environmental richness significantly impacted participants’ sense of presence, with the rich version producing higher presence scores (p = 0.018). Qualitative data highlighted that nonhazardous elements, such as terrain details, climatic conditions and virtual co-workers, enhanced realism and immersion. Heatmaps revealed wider visual attention and movement patterns in the rich environment, indicating greater engagement. Practical implications The findings suggest that investing in nonhazardous elements, often overlooked in virtual reality (VR) development due to resource constraints, can enhance presence and realism in virtual construction environments. This can lead to more ecologically valid training experiences that better replicate real-world scenarios, ultimately improving hazard recognition and decision-making skills. Originality/value Prior VR-based safety training has often lacked ecological validity, i.e. missing realistic site context or social dynamics, which may limit behavioral realism. This study addresses that gap by comparing a richly detailed virtual construction site against a bare version, to examine how added realism impacts users’ sense of presence and safety behaviors. By providing empirical evidence on the role of environmental richness in virtual construction environments, it emphasizes the importance of nonhazardous elements in enhancing presence, offering actionable insights for designing more effective VR-based safety training solutions.

  PublisherDOI

• A taxonomy for augmented reality use cases in the AECO industry

  Construction Innovation · 2025-01-06

  article

  Purpose A significant challenge arises from the inconsistent terminology used to describe augmented reality (AR) technology, leading to confusion and hindered communication. The purpose of this paper is to address the absence of a comprehensive taxonomy to define AR use cases in the architecture, engineering, construction and operation (AECO) domain and present a structured approach to developing one. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was conducted to identify AR use cases and use case taxonomies in the AECO and other industry domains in the Compendex database. This review resulted in the identification of 315 AR use cases. From the identified taxonomies, one was selected based on its comprehensiveness, relevance and applicability to the AECO industry. Leveraging this taxonomy from the manufacturing domain, this study validated, refined and added classes to the taxonomy through a content analysis of the existing AECO AR use cases. Additional critical categories were identified from existing taxonomies to enhance the taxonomy. A subset of 63 use cases was then used to validate the refined taxonomy. Findings The resulting taxonomy comprises two main dimensions: context-related and technology-related. The context-related dimension encompasses six classes, including the field of application, effect level, manual action category, context awareness capability, collaboration mode and interaction functions. The technology-related dimension encompasses the aim of augmentation, proximity to reality, hardware, location, content positioning, time and scale. Originality/value The taxonomy provides a comprehensive framework for categorizing and understanding AR use cases in the AECO industry using the domain language. By providing a structured framework for exploring AR applications, the proposed taxonomy may not only facilitate standardized communication but also foster creativity when designing an AR use case.

  PublisherDOI

• Construction scheduling challenges and implications: an interview study with industry professionals

  Higher Education Skills and Work-based Learning · 2025-08-22

  articleSenior author

  Purpose The construction industry commonly experiences scheduling problems that lead to costly delays, rework, and other negative outcomes. While construction scheduling is a core subject in higher education, recent graduates often struggle to grasp the complexities of scheduling processes. This paper aims to identify specific construction processes that are most challenging for recent graduates and to explore the underlying factors contributing to these scheduling difficulties. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research design was employed using semi-structured interviews with nineteen industry professionals, including general and specialty contractors. The interviews focused on identifying which construction processes recent graduates struggle with and the reasons behind these challenges. Findings The analysis revealed that tasks involving multiple trades are particularly difficult for new hires. Several factors were identified which included the difficulties in identifying mistakes, understanding the sequence of multi-trade processes, the unique and one-of-a-kind nature of many jobsite tasks and the need to reference numerous plan sheets to fully grasp a built element. Practical implications The findings highlight the critical need for exposure to complex, multi-trade tasks and emphasize the importance of learning through failure. To address this gap, the study recommends strengthening construction education through experiential learning methods such as simulations and hands-on activities that replicate real-world conditions and allow students to actively engage with the complexities of scheduling. Originality/value This study contributes to the research on construction scheduling education by identifying specific process-related challenges for new graduates and providing evidence-based recommendations to improve instructional practices. It offers valuable insights for educators and industry partners seeking to better prepare students for the demands of construction management.

  PublisherDOI

• Characteristics of Authentic Construction Learning Experiences to Enable Accurate Consideration of Cost-Effective Alternatives

  Buildings · 2025-07-11

  articleOpen access

  Authentic learning opportunities that simulate full-scale design and construction using real materials provide valuable experiential learning environments for construction and civil engineering students by challenging students to apply building concepts in practical settings. These activities challenge students to apply theoretical concepts in a realistic, hands-on context. However, the excessive cost of real building materials required for this mode of education limits access to the vast majority of students. As a result, educational researchers have explored potential alternatives to provide cost-effective experiential learning through activities using mock-up materials (e.g., plastic straws and popsicle sticks) and a simulation of experiences using immersive technologies (e.g., virtual reality or augmented reality). While some of these alternatives approximate the environment and others provide physical interaction with mock-up materials, the lack of authenticity in the building materials used introduces some apparent differences between the “authentic” learning environments and their cost-effective approximations. Therefore, this research aims to identify the learning processes reported by students and faculty who participated in authentic learning experiences to understand the ways in which this mode of education offers unique value to construction education. Their interview responses illustrated characteristics of authentic learning experiences that were believed to be critical to the learning process, some of which included working in groups; interdisciplinary participants; and the use of real construction materials. Although some of these characteristics are intrinsically linked to the use of real materials, others do not explicitly refer to interaction with real materials. This may point to specific aspects of authentic learning that educational researchers can replicate or enhance to provide cost-effective learning environments, such as virtual or augmented reality. The contribution of this paper is in identifying the characteristics of authentic learning experiences that may guide educational investment and research innovations that aim to replicate some of these learning experiences through more accessible learning environments.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Analyzing the Impact of Virtual Reality and Haptic Feedback on the Safety Skills of Construction Workers

  Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · 2025-06-09 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access

  Emerging technologies are offering opportunities to address the gaps in traditional construction safety training. The idea of using interactive technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and haptic feedback (HF) has been gaining traction to provide targeted training experiences. Research from outside construction has shown VR to be an especially promising tool in enhancing learning experiences within occupational settings. However, there is no direct evidence that VR in conjunction with HF supports learning outcomes when paired with existing safety training paradigms. Therefore, this study tests whether combining VR and HF with traditional safety training approaches positively impacts the safety skills of construction workers. In an interventional experimental design, 221 employees from the construction industry were placed in a VR environment after receiving prerecorded video-based safety training. Linear mixed model analysis suggests that VR experience paired with passive training can improve hazard recognition performance of construction workers. Surprisingly, the VR experience as designed and tested in this study had a negative effect on participants’ hazard recognition skills. However, there were no statistically significant changes observed in workers’ risk perceptions, risk tolerance, and safety-related decision-making skills post intervention. Additionally, the study did not find evidence showing HF improves learning outcomes within VR experience. Although VR remains a promising platform for learning in occupational settings, this study suggests that more research is needed to better understand the contexts where VR enhances adult learning achievements in occupational settings.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Exploring the Potential for Safety Training in VR to Generate Emotional Engagement and Situational Interest among Construction Workers

  Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · 2025-12-24

  articleOpen access

  To improve its traditional safety training methods, the construction industry has started to adopt virtual reality (VR) to enhance workers’ safety practices. Although preliminary research has shown promising results for the adoption of VR in safety training, there is a dearth of research on whether VR supports engagement [emotions and situational interest (SI)] among construction workers. Additionally, it is unclear if the potential improvements in engagement translate to learning achievements. This study sought to address this existing knowledge gap by assessing the impact of VR-based safety training (when adopted with traditional passive training and used as a tool to provide situated learning) on the conditions affecting learning—in this study, emotions and situational interest. The study used a quantitative quasi-experimental approach not only to evaluate how incorporating VR (and VR paired with haptic feedback) to a traditional passive training session affects these key conditions, but also to evaluate the effect of emotions and situational interest on the learning outcomes obtained from the experience. The study gathered data from 221 participants representing various sectors of the construction industry across the United States, including both on-site workers and construction managers. Parametric tests showed that VR-based safety training, as tested in this experiment, increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions of participants, aligning with results from past studies. Findings indicated that the experience was effective at eliciting emotional arousal among participants. Results indicated a statistically significant increase in situational interest, including interest in the use of VR technology for construction safety trainings but did not have a statistically significant effect on maintained value-based situational interest (which is related to the perceived long-term value of the experience). Finally, results also showed that emotions and situational interest do not influence the learning outcome obtained from the experience. These results underscore the potential of VR-based safety training to significantly enhance situational interest and emotional responses; however, they also challenge the assumption that emotional engagement and situational interest directly enhance learning outcomes from a VR-based safety training module, as tested in this experiment. This research underscores VR’s potential in safety training while highlighting the need for further exploration into how these technologies influence learning efficacy.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Transformative trajectories: PLS-SEM analysis of factors influencing emerging technologies in construction adoption in Malaysia

  Journal of Information Technology in Construction · 2025-01-08 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  The rapid development and integration of emerging technologies in construction (ETC) have revolutionized traditional processes, workflows, and management systems. Despite these advancements, the adoption of these technologies varies widely across organizations and projects, posing challenges to the industry. This study aims to identify the key factors influencing ETC adoption and develop a structural equation model to analyze their relationships, using Malaysia as a case study. Through a systematic literature review, relevant factors were identified, followed by a survey with 147 industry professionals to evaluate the importance of the factors. Data were analyzed using agreement analysis, mean score ranking, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The analyses identified 14 key factors, which can be further classified into three underlying constructs: organizational resources, organizational goals, and organizational strategy. Notably, the findings suggest that only organizational strategy plays a significant role in ETC adoption decisions. Consequently, strategic alignment should be a primary consideration for organizations planning to adopt ETC. This study contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive analysis of the factors influencing ETC adoption. Researchers and industry professionals can leverage these insights to develop effective strategies that enhance ETC adoption rates, driving innovation and efficiency in the construction industry.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Computing in AEC Education: Hindsight, Insight, and Foresight

  Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering · 2024-02-20 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  In the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) fields, computing and information technologies play an increasingly prevalent and complex role in day-to-day work. Consequently, educators must adjust and, in many cases, reimagine curricula and teaching methodologies to adapt to the changing landscape. Past research efforts led by the ASCE Computing Division Education Committee, formerly called the Task Committee on Computing Education of the Technical Council on Computing and Information Technology (TCCIT), have regularly surveyed AEC educators to understand computing trends in AEC curricula, with the latest survey taking place nearly a decade ago. This work presents the results of an updated survey that used this prior work as a springboard, providing timely insights into the computing skills and curricular barriers faced by AEC educators today. The results showed that the technical skills used by students have evolved, but the barriers faced in incorporating new skills into curricula have remained largely the same. In addition to comparisons with prior surveys, this work presents the results of an expanded, open-ended portion of the survey that explores educator perspectives on the future of the AEC workforce in a broader lens than used in previous surveys. Thematic analysis of these open-ended responses revealed themes that were common among responses and provided organization to the findings. For example, educators provided their vision of what competencies the future AEC workforce would need, which were thematically organized into a continuum based on the level of interaction between humans and technology. These results suggest an increasingly complex and evolving relationship between the AEC workforce and emerging technology, highlighting the need for educators to encourage the development of technological adaptability and agility. Overall, this work provides a systematic comparison of current educational practices in AEC computing with a decade ago to illustrate educational shifts and adds a prediction of AEC trends from experts in AEC education, providing crucial discussion of curricular transformations that will better position students for success in the workforce.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Assessing Head- Hand- and Heart-Related Competencies through Augmented-Reality

  2024-02-06 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  This work in progress paper presents an assessment framework for an authentic learning activity in augmented reality (AR).Constant changes in technical and societal needs require educational programs to constantly rethink the status quo and explore ways to align future professionals' formal education with emerging workforce demands.Such is critical for all professionsincluding those in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.While many may agree on the need to do this, what is less clear is the scholarly approach required for undertaking such an endeavor.Insights from studies associated with the Preparation for the Professions Program led by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching offer a framework used for exploring professional preparation across professions is commonly referred to as the Three Apprenticeships-namely, Apprenticeships of the Head, the Hand, and the Heart.Within engineering-related fields, academic preparation for the profession primarily focuses on technical knowledge; but there is a need for more holistic, integrated learning experiences that involve different kinds of knowledge (Head), skills (Hand), and professional judgment (Heart).This study leverages the Three Apprenticeship framework to assess an integrated learning AEC experience in augmented reality (AR) by using real-time data collected from participants.Using the context of a children's playground, participants were asked to redesign an existing play structure to better meet the needs of children, parents, and other stakeholders within the community.A five-metric assessment was developed to operationalize the head, hand, and heart constructs in this context and measure participants' ability to think holistically in an authentic learning experience.These five assessment metrics included cost, time, safety, sustainability, and fun.This paper explores the development of this assessment and shares preliminary findings from the study.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• CRII: Cyberlearning: Mobile Computers to Enhance the Building Industry and Education

  NSF · $212k · 2016–2019

• EXP: Collaborative Research: Cultivating Apprenticeship Learning for Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Using Mixed Reality

  NSF · $411k · 2017–2022

Frequent coauthors

• Wei Wu

  27 shared

• Jeremi London

  Vanderbilt University

  26 shared

• Kieren H. McCord

  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

  22 shared

• Logan Perry

  University of Nebraska–Lincoln

  21 shared

• Karan Patil

  18 shared

• Mounir El Asmar

  Arizona State University

  13 shared

• Jad Chalhoub

  12 shared

• Pingbo Tang

  Carnegie Mellon University

  12 shared

Awards & honors

• Civil Engineering Faculty Appreciation Award, 2025
• Outstanding Reviewer Award from ASCE’s Journal of Civil Engi…