Multiuser immersive VR versus BIM platforms for remote AEC team collaboration

Advancements in immersive virtual reality (VR) raise new possibilities for multidisciplinary architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) team collaboration; however, the empirical basis for assessing its effectiveness remains insufficiently examined. This paper investigated whether avatar body language and 3D markup tools in a head-mounted display (HMD) VR platform improve remote AEC team performance compared to a Building Information Modeling (BIM) platform configured with equivalent navigation and communication features. A controlled counterbalanced experiment was conducted with ten teams, using a mixed-methods evaluation framework that incorporated meeting duration, decision-reporting accuracy, participant feedback, and observational analysis. The results showed that immersive VR significantly reduced average meeting duration by 26.7% and improved final decision-reporting accuracy compared to the BIM platform, while qualitative findings indicated that avatar embodiment and visual collaboration tools supported more effective coordination. These findings inform technology adoption decisions for AEC practitioners and advance the empirical foundation for researchers evaluating immersive VR as a coordination platform for distributed project teams. They further motivate future research aimed at refining immersive collaboration features and advancing their systematic evaluation to support evidence-based integration into AEC practice.