Extended Reality in Quantity Surveying

Article history Received: 7 May 2021 Accepted: 21 May 2021 Published Online: 10 June 2021 It is possible for cost professionals to prepare an informed and compendious cost plan by identifying all the factors that cause cost overruns, variations, safety hazards and others without having a significant prior experience. The implementation of Extended Reality can address this phenomenon. The paper aims to introduce the concept of Extended Reality in the field of quantity surveying by exploring its untapped potential and also looks to identify critical barriers in implementing this technology. A detailed review of literature study produced eight critical factors acting as barriers in successful implementation. With the suggestions from the industry professionals, the inter-relationship among these factors were established and prioritised using Interpretative Structural Modelling (ISM) tool. Further, these factors were categorised using MICMAC (Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification) analysis. This study identifies, lack of expertise and lack of suitable software as the key driving factors in successful implementation and all the remaining factors are directly or indirectly influenced by them. The sample size considered in building the ISM network is limited to the Indian construction industry. The disadvantages of Extended Reality have not been covered in the study. There may be several negative repercussions to human health due to this technology. This study can be used by industry professionals in understanding how advance technology like this can overcome many challenges pertinent to cost planning and estimation. This study stands out among the few research topics which contribute to reducing the knowledge gap among the cost professionals irrespective of their experience.