Assessing an Immersive Virtual Reality–Based Simulation Game Capability to Study the Social Mechanisms Enabled by the Last Planner System in Projects

In recent years, research has found that the effectiveness of the Last Planner System (LPS) can be significantly enhanced by identifying and effectively managing the missing social mechanisms that LPS introduced within project teams. To investigate these mechanisms, we have developed an experimental tool called the multiuser immersive virtual reality–based LPS simulation game (MILPS). Prior research shows its feasibility in creating an experimental environment to investigate LPS-specific social mechanisms by assessing usability, perceived presence, and task performance. However, how similar the social mechanisms obtained from MILPS are to the real world (i.e., ecological validity) has yet to be studied, reducing its potential in future studies. To address this gap, this paper assessed the ecological validity of MILPS by comparing findings from the virtual world with empirical findings from the real world. We employed MILPS to conduct a two-round experiment consisting of both non-Lean and LPS-based project planning, and working tasks to study the key social mechanisms associated with LPS. Participants’ behavioral (i.e., communications), cognitive, and affective responses (i.e., shared understanding and stress levels) were measured with video recordings, physiological sensors, and questionnaires during and after these tasks. Results indicate that MILPS captured the key social mechanisms associated with LPS (e.g., improved shared understanding, communication patterns, and reduced stress levels), which established the ecological validity of using MILPS for studying the LPS-associated social mechanisms. The contributions of this study are twofold: (1) providing insights into designing and conducting group IVR experiments that collect behaviors and psychological and physiological data and (2) sharing an innovative and ecologically valid experimental tool that can be used to study the LPS within the Lean community.