Information communications technology (ICT) has been implemented in the construction sector but there is not yet any immersive system to integrate virtual reality (VR) and building information modelling (BIM) for quantity surveying (QS) practice and education. Aiming to develop a VR-embedded immersive system for construction engineering practice and education, experiments using Autodesk Revit 2016, Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2015, and Unity were conducted in this study. The developed VR-embedded immersive system for quantity surveying practice and education consists of two main components, namely: Immersive System (Head-mounted display/360-degree display) and Non-immersive systems (Desktop VR). The virtual reality application could help improving QS practitioners’ and QS students’ understanding on the architectural design using VR walkthrough to navigate the virtual 3D building model, thus to improve the efficiency of decision making and the precision in quantity surveying work.

Professor Dr. Chen Wang MIEEE, MRICS, MIETI, MCRIOCM is a Distinguished Professor in the College of Civil Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, China, and the Tongjiang Scholar awarded by Quanzhou Government, China. He is the Head of Department, Department of Construction Management. He served as a senior engineer of China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), which is the main contractor of the 2008 Olympics Beijing National Aquatics Center known as "Water Cube" and the Russian Federal Building in Moscow. His expertise include Modern Construction Machinery and Equipment, Building Automation & Robotics, System Dynamics, Mathematics Modeling for Civil Engineering, Swarm Intelligence, Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Fuzzy-QFD, Tensile Membrane Steel Structure, 3D Printing in Building & Surveying Education, Vertical Greenery Systems, Repertory Grid, sustainability in construction management, international BOT projects, energy conservation, and building integrated solar application, supported by his vast publications. He is an IEEE professional member (U.S.), RICS member (U.K.), International Engineering and Technology Institute (IETI) Senior Member, and also a perpetual member of The Chinese Research Institute of Construction Management (CRIOCM), Hong Kong (International). He was awarded as Talent Prospect Icon in 2014 by Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. He was awarded Oversea Price by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE, U.K.), The United Kingdom.