Roadside Construction Safety Training in Unity VR
As an Undergraduate Research Assistant at the University of South Florida's Rehabilitation, Robotics and Prosthetics Lab (May–December 2022), I built a VR platform that trains roadside construction workers on job-site safety — hazard identification, interactive scenarios, and safety-response workflows — without the risks of a live work zone. I presented the prototype to Florida Department of Transportation stakeholders.
What I built
- Immersive roadside job-site scenarios in Unity/C#, with interactive hazards and safety-response workflows that let workers practice protocols in a controlled environment.
- Worker avatars using Adobe Mixamo characters and animations.
- The hardware case that moved the lab off the 2016-era HTC Vive and onto the Meta Quest 2 — I researched the technical trade-offs, made the argument to my advisors, and retargeted development at the new headset.
- Documentation and tutorial videos for coworkers and advisors, so the research team could keep developing the platform after my term ended.
I learned Unity from scratch on this project while keeping to research deadlines: VR interaction systems, performance optimization for standalone mobile VR hardware, and user interfaces that work in 3D space.
Outcome
The prototype demonstrated that immersive VR training is viable for high-risk roadside work, and it was presented to FDOT stakeholders. It became the foundation for continued VR training development at the lab — the documentation and tutorials I left behind let the team iterate on the platform after I moved on.
Stack: Unity, C#, Meta Quest 2, Adobe Mixamo.