SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Virtual Real.
Sec. Virtual Reality in Industry
This article is part of the Research TopicDigital Transformation in Construction: Integrating Metaverse, Digital Twin, and BIMView all 9 articles
Evolution and Research Trends in Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Technologies for the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Industry: A Systematic Review and Science Mapping Approach
Provisionally accepted
Diego Sornoza-Parrales*
Günther Oberdam Baque VeraMaría Leonor Parrales PovedaTania Maricela Macías-Parrales- Universidad Estatal del Sur de Manabi, Jipijapa, Ecuador
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
This systematic review and bibliometric analysis examine the evolution and research trends of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies within the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry to identify key research themes, application domains, and future directions. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using both Scopus and Web of Science databases covering publications from 2015-2025 to ensure robust multi-database validation. After applying engineering subject area filters, the Scopus search yielded 1,301 articles while Web of Science returned 898 articles. The methodology combined quantitative bibliometric analysis using Bibliometrix software with qualitative thematic analysis of the most-cited and relevant studies following PRISMA guidelines. Performance analysis, science mapping, and co-occurrence analysis were employed to identify research clusters and trends across both databases. Cross-database validation confirmed convergent patterns in publication growth, thematic structure, and collaboration networks, with both databases demonstrating exponential growth and similar dominant research themes centered on digital twins, virtual reality applications, and BIM integration. This study provides a comprehensive quantitative mapping of VR/AR research in the AEC industry with multi-database validation, revealing the intellectual structure and research fronts. The integrated approach combining bibliometric analysis with thematic synthesis offers insights for researchers and practitioners to understand current applications, identify research gaps, and guide future technology adoption strategies.
Keywords: virtual reality, augmented reality, Construction Industry, Research trends, Digital Twin, Science mapping, bibliometric analysis, Building Information Model (BIM)
Received: 15 Oct 2025; Accepted: 01 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sornoza-Parrales, Baque Vera, Parrales Poveda and Macías-Parrales. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Diego Sornoza-Parrales
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.