JOHOR BAHRU, Aug 13 — Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has proudly debuted its first-ever Augmented Reality (AR) art gallery at the Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying (FABU). Developed by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP), this innovative showcase highlights the creative perspectives of first-year students.
Hosted at the FABU Gallery (B02, Level 2), the exhibition features urban sketches produced by students enrolled in the SBEW1215 Experiencing Cities and Human Settlements course. These works, depicting the vibrancy of Johor Bahru and Melaka, were carefully selected for their ability to capture the essence of urban life.
Guided by the URP academic team—Ts. Gs. Dr. Noradila Rusli, TPr. Gs. Dr. Nafisa Hosni, Dr. Ak. Mohd Rafiq Ak Matusin, and Dr. Nabila Abdul Ghani—the traditional sketches were transformed into animated sequences using artificial intelligence. These animations were then projected into augmented reality, creating an immersive experience that blends artistic expression with digital innovation.
While the students’ original urban sketches form the creative foundation, the AR gallery itself is the product of URP’s technological expertise. By using AI to add movement, atmosphere, and narrative depth, and overlaying the results in AR, the team has created a unique space where visitors can interact with urban scenes that appear to come alive before their eyes.
The team selected hardcopy works from first-year studio projects to be transformed with AI animation and integrated into AR for an immersive experience. The picture on the right shows how the AR experience can be accessed on a mobile phone using a dedicated AR app to scan the posters and images displayed in the gallery.
Small in scale but rich in purpose, the dedicated gallery offers a meaningful platform to present students’ creative works that merge artistry with technology. This first trial may be a baby step, but it signals a promising start toward inspiring larger, more impactful strides in urban planning education.
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and AR into urban planning is more than just a visual novelty. The introduction of AR, according to the URP team, opens vast opportunities providing planners and students with sharper visualisation tools, improves public communication, enables faster design iteration, encourages community engagement, and equips future professionals with skills increasingly essential in the field. This initiative reinforces URP’s position at the forefront of technology adoption in planning education and outreach.
Visitors are invited to explore the gallery and witness how emerging digital tools can deepen their understanding of cities by bringing sketches to life, offering fresh appreciation of the urban public realms. The department hopes the exhibition will not only help the visitors celebrate the creativity of its students but also inspire the next generation of urban planners to think beyond traditional methods and embrace innovation.
By Noradila Rusli and Nafisa Hosni