ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Virtual Real.

Sec. Augmented Reality

Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frvir.2025.1592287

ARchitect: Advancing Architectural Visualization and Interaction through Handheld Augmented Reality

Provisionally accepted
Sabahat IsrarSabahat Israr1Mudassar Ali KhanMudassar Ali Khan2Muhammad Shahid AnwarMuhammad Shahid Anwar3,4*Kamran Ahmad AwanKamran Ahmad Awan2Saoucene MahfoudhSaoucene Mahfoudh5Turki AlthaqafiTurki Althaqafi6Wadee AlhalabiWadee Alhalabi7
  • 1Department of Computer Science, Government Postgraduate College for Women Haripur 22620, Higher Education Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Haripur, Pakistan
  • 2Department of Information Technology, The University of Haripur, Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
  • 3Gachon University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
  • 4Department of AI and Software, Gachon University, 13120,, Seongnam-si, Republic of Korea
  • 5School of Engineering, Computing, and Design, Dar Al-Hekma University, Jeddah 6702, Saudi Arabia, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  • 6Computer Science Department, School of Engineering, Computing and Design, Dar Al-Hekma University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  • 7Immersive virtual reality research group, Department of Computer Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

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The architecture, engineering, and construction industry requires enhanced tools for efficient collaboration and user-centric designs. Traditional visualization methods relying on 2D/3D CAD models often fall short of modern demands for interactivity and context-aware representation. To address this limitation, this study introduces ARchitect, a mobile-based markerless augmented reality (AR) framework aimed at revolutionizing architectural artifact visualization and interaction.The proposed approach enables users to dynamically overlay and manipulate 3D architectural elements, such as roofs, windows, and doors, within their physical environment using AR raycasting and device sensors. Algorithms supporting translation, rotation, and scaling allow precise adjustments to model placement while integrating metadata to enhance design comprehension. Real-time lighting adaptation ensures seamless environmental blending, and the framework's usability is quantitatively evaluated using the Handheld Augmented Reality Usability Scale (HARUS). ARchitect achieved a usability score of 89.2, demonstrating significant improvements in user engagement, accuracy, and decision-making compared to conventional methods.

Keywords: augmented reality, 3D interaction, Markerless tracking, architecture, Handheld AR, 3D visualization, virtual world

Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 03 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Israr, Khan, Anwar, Awan, Mahfoudh, Althaqafi and Alhalabi. 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: Muhammad Shahid Anwar, Gachon University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea

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.

Supplementary Material