Virtual Reality in Tunnel Engineering

Yuxin Zhang is a Research Assistant Professor at Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and leads the smart evacuation and underground space engineering group. She obtained a bachelor and doctoral degree majoring in tunnelling and underground space engineering at Tongji University. She has conducted various multi-scale field experiments and VR experiments to study human behavior and applied data analysis and modelling to optimize evacuation plans in tunnels and subway stations. She has published over 40 academic papers in journals and conferences including Nature Cities and presented at several distinguished conferences. She also serves as editorial members, guest editors and reviewers for several top academic journals. In addition, she has been actively advancing the translation of research into real-world applications, with a strong portfolio of patents, and received the Geneva Invention Gold Medal of the Jury (2025) and CES Best of Innovation (2026).Yi Rui is a Professor at Tongji University. He received a PhD from University of Cambridge, MSc and BEng from Tongji University. Before joining Tongji, Prof. Rui was a lecturer at Aberdeen University, UK. His research background is broad, encompassing several hot research topics in geotechnical engineering: (i) Energy geo-structures; (ii) Offshore geotechnical engineering; (iii) Intelligent structural health monitoring. Prof. Rui has published over 80 journal papers. He is an Editorial member of Underground Space and a Guest Editor of Fractal and Fractional. He has also been honored with the Science and Technology Progress Award from the Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering and the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award.Xinyan Huang is an Associate Professor at Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He received his PhD from Imperial College London and is a Chartered Building Services and Fire Engineer. Prof. Huang has co-authored over 200 journal papers in building safety and smart resilience. He is an Associate Editor of Fire Technology, and J. Safety Sci. Resil., an editorial member of Fire Safety J and J. Building Engineering. He serves as a board member of Int. Association of Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) and Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Foundation. He is a winner of the NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Fund, IAFSS Early Career Award from IAFSS, and SFPE Engineering Communication Award.

• Preface. 1. The Development and Application of Virtual Reality. 2. Introduction to Tunnelling Engineering. Section A: Design and Construction. 3. Designing VR-Based Training Scenarios for Tower Crane Lifting Operations Considering Potential Accidents. 4. VR-Enabled Digital Twin Systems for Tunnel Construction Management. 5. A Virtual Reality-Based Integrated System for Fire Protection Design, Monitoring, and Emergency Evacuation in Tunnels. Section B: Energy and Environment. 6. Research on the Theory and Technology of Equivalent Lighting in Tunnel Light Environments. 7. Immersive Perception of the Tunnel Environment in VR/AR Platform: from a multi-sensory perspective. 8. Tunnel Lighting in Driving Performance and Energy Saving. Section C: Safety and Management. 9. VR Model Based on Tunnel Inspection and Maintenance, AR. 10. Virtual Reality Studies on Choice Guidance in Road Tunnel Fire and Evacuation. 11. Using Virtual Reality to Improve Tunnel and Underground Station Fire Safety. 12. Extended Reality (XR) in Tunnel Engineering for Inspection and Maintenance.