Experience It with AR! Exterior Completion Visuals: LRTK Enables Clear Visualization for Homeowners

Introduction: The “Completion-Image Barrier” in Exterior Proposals

When proposing exterior and landscaping plans for houses, accurately conveying the image of the finished result to homeowners is a major challenge. Even when using drawings or perspective renderings, non-professional homeowners often find it difficult to grasp the scale of the space or the nuances of details. It’s common for disagreements such as “This is different from what I imagined” or “It’s a little different from what I expected” to surface later, leading to parts of the completed exterior being redone. Many contractors and designers may have experienced this. This “completion-image barrier” in exterior proposals makes reaching consensus with homeowners difficult and has long been a significant headache for proposers.

Traditionally, catalogs, scale models, and 2D/3D drawings have been used to reach agreement on exterior plans. However, catalog photos don’t show how a product will harmonize with the actual site or building, and miniature models or CG perspectives also struggle to fully convey real-life scale. Especially for elements like the height of gate posts or fences, the size of carports, and the volume of planting, homeowners often realize only after completion that something is “bigger than expected” or “creates a sense of pressure.” A proposal method that fills these completion-image gaps and lets homeowners confidently say “This is definitely right” has been needed.

How AR Is Changing Homeowner Presentations

One promising approach gaining attention in recent years is using AR (augmented reality) technology for exterior proposals. By simply pointing a smartphone or tablet, this technology overlays CG exterior models onto live images of the actual site and building, transforming how proposals are presented to homeowners. Where conventional drawings relied on imagination, AR allows homeowners to examine designs while experiencing them as if "the finished product were actually there."

For example, if you display life-size 3D models of gate posts and fences in an otherwise empty yard using AR, homeowners can inspect how they look installed at their own entrance from any angle, 360 degrees. As the saying goes, “seeing is believing”; textures and a sense of depth that words and drawings can’t fully convey are shared visually, so homeowners’ comprehension and confidence increase dramatically. As a result, consensus-building during the proposal stage becomes smoother, and closing rates are expected to improve. In the renovation industry, there have been reports that incorporating AR into interior renovation proposals sped up deal closures, and similar effects are drawing attention in the exterior and landscaping field.

AR proposals are also an enjoyable and compelling experience for homeowners. Presentations using the latest technology make a strong impression and capture clients’ attention. Seeing a homeowner exclaim “Wow!” when viewing their future home through a screen brings joy to presenters as well. Including this sense of excitement, AR is elevating the style of exterior proposals to the next level.

Element-by-Element: Concrete Examples of Consensus Building with AR

Using AR makes it significantly easier to align homeowner expectations for each element that composes an exterior. Below are practical examples of how AR displays can be used to build consensus for key exterior elements.

• Gate posts and gates: Gate posts and gates that adorn the front of a building can dramatically change the impression around the entrance based on design and height. If you overlay the gate post design, the placement of nameplates and mailboxes, and their heights in front of the actual entrance with AR, size and texture are conveyed realistically. Homeowners can immediately check how these elements harmonize with their home’s exterior and how they appear from the street, sharing concerns such as “It’s taller than I thought” or “The color doesn’t match the exterior wall” in advance. For example, switching between a brick-style gate post and a wood-grain finish in AR to compare and let the homeowner choose the preferred option is easy to do.

• Fences: Fences installed on property boundaries affect privacy and the view depending on opacity (degree of screening) and height. AR can reproduce a fence erected along the property line, allowing you and the homeowner to check the sense of enclosure from inside and how well it screens views from outside. For instance, displaying fences at 1.2m and 1.8m heights in AR makes it intuitive for homeowners to judge the height that best suits the boundary with the neighboring house. This helps you grasp early requests such as “A slightly lower fence will make the garden look larger” and leads to agreeing on the optimal fence plan.

• Carports: Carport installation around the garage is another element where AR proposals are highly effective. By displaying a carport’s frame and roof over the parking space in AR, homeowners can understand the actual relationships with their vehicle and how shade will be cast. Homeowners can concretely imagine post-installation life scenes, such as whether walking and door-opening paths are maintained or whether building windows will be obstructed. Requests like “It feels more obstructive than I thought, so I want to raise the roof height” can be elicited before construction, allowing design adjustments and preventing rework after completion.

• Lighting: It’s hard to imagine outdoor lighting placement and brightness from drawings or daytime photos alone. By placing light-source models where porch lights or garden lights would go and simulating nighttime ambiance in AR, homeowners can confirm not only the lighting design but also how the light will fall. For example, you can share the rhythm of scattered approach lights or how a gate lamp will illuminate the front door; homeowners may then say, “We want this area a bit brighter” or “Let’s increase the number of fixtures,” and these adjustments can be discussed beforehand. Although AR cannot perfectly reproduce actual darkness or brightness, lighting simulations on AR complement homeowners’ imagination and help close perception gaps about nighttime exterior scenes.

• Planting: AR is highly effective for planting plans like trees and flowerbeds. By displaying tree models at their expected mature size where they will be planted, you can visualize the volume after growth and shadow patterns. Homeowners can realistically experience how added greenery will change the yard and discuss long-term concerns such as “If the tree grows big, will branches reach the neighbor’s yard?” Also, by testing combinations of multiple plant species in AR, you can immediately consider layouts on site to meet requests like “I want a Japanese-style garden” or “I want seasonal color.” While plantings change gradually after completion, AR’s ability to propose with a view to long-term form is a great asset.

• Paving and approaches: Approach paths and paving materials are also hard to judge from sample photos alone. By overlaying tile or stone textures onto the actual ground with AR, you can compare whether color and pattern match the building’s exterior on the spot. For instance, toggling between pale beige cobblestones and sophisticated gray tiles lets homeowners instantly pick the desired atmosphere. Visualizing the path from the entrance to the gate also reveals design ideas such as “A curved approach gives a softer impression.” Because paving area extent and boundary designs with the garden can be reviewed in AR from a bird’s-eye perspective, you can share and agree on points easily missed on flat plans.

By using AR, you can jointly refine each exterior element’s details while sharing a realistic image of the finished result. Homeowners gain reassurance by virtually experiencing the completed form before their home is built, and proposers can reduce the risk of rework caused by misaligned expectations. This is truly a consensus-building style suited to the "see-and-choose" era.

Accurate AR Visualization with LRTK and a Smartphone

However, to maximize the benefits of AR proposals, display accuracy is also essential. Conventional smartphone-only AR can suffer from GPS accuracy limitations or marker alignment hassles, causing models to shift tens of centimeters to several meters from their intended positions. For precise AR display in wide outdoor spaces, improvements in positional alignment accuracy are required.

This is where solutions that combine a smartphone with LRTK (a compact RTK-GNSS device) shine. LRTK is a high-precision positioning device attached to a smartphone that achieves centimeter-level positioning accuracy using RTK GNSS. It supports high-precision correction information (CLAS) distributed by Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System Michibiki, enabling stable, high-precision position information even at sites outside cellular coverage. In other words, accurate on-site coordinates that previously required professional surveying equipment can now be obtained easily with a smartphone plus LRTK.

Combining LRTK’s high-precision positioning with a smartphone’s built-in camera and LiDAR scanner for 3D scanning makes aligning the real world with digital models dramatically easier. Using point cloud data obtained by scanning the site with a smartphone and reference-point coordinates measured by LRTK, exterior 3D models can be placed to match the site’s absolute coordinates. Once correctly placed, models remain in the right position even when the user walks around the site. Issues difficult to verify on flat plans—such as the exact separation between a building and a fence or the range a gate swings and potential interference with surrounding structures—can be accurately checked in AR.

Moreover, with LRTK and a smartphone you can perform simple surveying and AR display simultaneously. For example, you can measure site elevation differences and reference heights for installed equipment with an LRTK-equipped smartphone, use that data to create a simulated ground model, and reflect it in AR. That way, placing a wood deck on a slope or planning stair steps can be visualized considering the actual gradient, improving proposal accuracy. LRTK systems also provide mechanisms to share measured positioning data and point clouds in the cloud, seamlessly linking office-created design models with on-site survey data for AR display. By enabling both "measure" and "show" with a single smartphone, LRTK becomes a powerful partner for future exterior proposals.

An AR-Based Proposal Workflow That Connects Design, Sales, and Construction

AR-based exterior proposals also positively impact internal workflows. When designers, sales representatives, and construction staff share the same 3D model and site information, information sharing—previously prone to fragmentation—becomes smoother.

First, designers create detailed exterior 3D models from BIM or CAD and prepare them for AR. Next, sales personnel use those models to present AR proposals at the homeowner’s site. During this presentation, sales staff can explain constraints that designers considered when creating the model, such as boundary lines and elevation differences. Any requests or concerns raised by homeowners on site are fed back from sales to design, and models can be revised and shown again in AR for quick confirmation when needed.

After the homeowner agrees to the final plan, construction staff can also refer to the same 3D model and on-site survey data. If everyone reconfirms the finished image with AR at the pre-construction meeting, points that are hard to notice on paper drawings can be identified in advance. During construction, AR can be used—for example—to check the positions of gate posts and walls during foundation work and verify there are no discrepancies with the design drawings. By consistently using the AR model from the sales stage through construction, you can minimize homeowner dissatisfaction like “it’s different from what I was told” and reduce rework caused by miscommunication within the company.

Additionally, model data and point clouds used for AR proposals can be shared and managed in the cloud, allowing supervisors or design leaders in remote offices to observe AR presentations and provide advice remotely. Centralized digital data that is interactively used with the field realizes a seamless proposal flow where design, sales, and construction work as one. Positioning AR at the center of information sharing also contributes to DX (digital transformation) of exterior proposal operations.

Case Study: Achieving Homeowner Satisfaction and Zero Design Changes with AR

Here is an example of a contractor that improved outcomes by introducing AR exterior proposals.

For a newly built detached house project, a construction company used smartphone AR to present the finished exterior during the planning phase. The homeowner—who initially couldn’t visualize the parking area layout from drawings—checked the garage location and carport height on site using AR. The homeowner found that “the view when parking felt more obstructive than expected,” so a reconsideration of the post positions and roof height was made on the spot. The designer promptly adjusted the 3D model and the homeowner confirmed with AR that the revised plan was “ideal.” At the same time, the planting plan around the gate was simulated in AR to show growth over several years, leading the homeowner to request replacing a tree with a smaller shrub to avoid future overgrowth.

Through the process of letting the homeowner virtually experience the design in AR, small requests were elicited and reflected in the design, resulting in a final plan that perfectly matched the homeowner’s image. After completion, the homeowner commented, "I was uneasy with just the drawings, but being able to check with AR beforehand let me trust them and I’m very satisfied that the result matched my image." Because AR was used in proposals, no design changes occurred after final plan agreement, and construction proceeded smoothly. The proposer also enjoyed benefits such as fewer reworks and complaints, leading to overall shorter lead times and cost reductions.

This is just one example, but it demonstrates that using AR can realistically achieve higher homeowner satisfaction and zero rework. Introducing AR into exterior proposals is not merely a presentation upgrade; it’s an effective solution that directly improves operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Steps and Notes for Introducing AR Proposals

How should you introduce compelling AR exterior proposals? Below are basic steps for implementing AR proposals using a smartphone and LRTK, along with key points to keep in mind.

• Prepare the necessary equipment and apps: First, prepare a smartphone or tablet suitable for AR. Devices with LiDAR scanners, such as the latest iPhone or iPad Pro models, have higher spatial recognition accuracy and are ideal. Prepare a LRTK device for high-precision positioning and attach it to the smartphone (using compatible cases or attachments). Also install surveying/AR display apps compatible with LRTK. If you don’t have LRTK, starting with a simple AR simulation app (for example, AR catalog apps provided by exterior product manufacturers) is still a good way to try things out.

• Prepare exterior 3D data: Next, prepare 3D model data of the exterior plan you want to propose. Create models of gate posts, fences, and other elements using CAD or BIM software, and export them in formats that the AR app can load (for example USDZ or glTF). High-resolution models intended for still-image renders may be too heavy, so perform polygon reduction and other optimizations to lighten the data. If using manufacturer products, you may be able to use 3D assets provided by the manufacturers.

• On-site positioning and AR placement: At the homeowner’s site, use an LRTK-equipped smartphone to measure reference points, such as building corners or property boundary points, and use them as model placement coordinates. Scan the ground and building with the smartphone’s AR app to synchronize the virtual and real spaces. Then place the prepared 3D models at the on-site coordinates in AR. While GPS alone can yield errors of several meters, using LRTK enables almost life-size alignment. If LRTK is unavailable, you can also visually align models using existing markers (utility poles, manhole covers, etc.) and manually fine-tune placement.

• Presentation to the homeowner: Once AR is ready, let the homeowner experience it. Explain gate posts, walls, carports, and other elements over the smartphone or tablet screen. It’s effective to let the homeowner hold the device and view from their preferred positions and angles. Advise moving the device slowly so the CG and real views do not drift. If the homeowner requests changes or asks to alter something, switch to alternative models on the spot or note the changes for a later revised proposal.

• Feedback and plan revisions: Based on homeowner feedback from the AR experience, revise the plan as necessary. Minor changes can often be adjusted within the app by changing parameters or swapping materials. For major revisions, take the model back to the office for updates and schedule another AR confirmation. The key is to ensure that points raised in AR are reflected and then re-visualized on the next proposal. Repeating this cycle eliminates homeowner concerns one by one and results in a final plan they are satisfied with.

Notes: There are several considerations when introducing AR proposals. First is weather and lighting. Outdoors, strong direct sunlight can make screens hard to see, and too-dark conditions can reduce camera tracking accuracy. Choose a proposal time that is not too bright or too dark. Also, smartphone battery drain is significant during AR use, so bring spare batteries.

Next, be aware of occlusion handling in AR displays. If the front-back relationships between real objects and CG models aren’t processed correctly, for example, a fence that should be hidden behind a wall may appear to be transparent—leading to unnatural displays. While LiDAR-based high-precision mapping on modern devices solves much of this, it’s not perfect. When presenting, add clarifications such as “In reality this part will be hidden” as needed.

Also pay attention to the volume of 3D data. Overly complex models can take long to load or slow the app. Model only the necessary areas and express fine details with textures to ensure a smooth AR experience. For homeowners reluctant to use a dedicated app, offer simpler options like WebAR accessible via a browser. Tailor the experience to the client’s IT literacy level to ensure success.

Conclusion: Exteriors Enter the “See-and-Choose” Era

By incorporating AR into exterior proposals, communication with homeowners becomes vastly smoother and the “completion-image barrier” can be overcome. Rather than relying on paper drawings or imagination, the era of "show and let them choose" has already begun. Even a single gate post or fence can be scrutinized by homeowners in situ, leading to greater confidence in their choices. For proposers, the anxiety of moving plans forward without clear homeowner understanding is reduced, allowing them to proceed with confidence toward contract.

With advances in AR and smartphone surveying technologies, environments where you can experience exterior completion images on site are becoming a reality. In the future, when AR glasses (smart glasses) become common, homeowners may be able to confirm the finish visually without looking through a tablet. If that happens, it could become routine for homeowners to use AR on site to compare and evaluate exterior products themselves. The field of exterior proposals is continually being updated by the wave of DX.

Finally, the key to high homeowner satisfaction in exterior proposals is to propose as if you are showing the real thing. As a means to that end, AR is extremely effective and will only grow in importance. Why not ride this new wave of the “see-and-choose” era and incorporate AR exterior proposals?

Bonus: Getting Started with AR Proposals and Simple Surveying Using LRTK

You may wonder, "Can our company really implement AR proposals?" But with just a smartphone and LRTK, you can start AR exterior proposals without special equipment or advanced skills. LRTK is a palm-sized positioning device that slots into a smartphone and is designed to be user-friendly when paired with intuitive dedicated apps. This makes it possible to quickly show exterior completion images on site without investing in expensive surveying instruments or complex AR systems.

LRTK is also useful not only for proposals but for everyday surveying and construction management. You can handle site measurements, elevation checks, and as-built (post-construction) recording with a single smartphone, contributing to operational efficiency. By digitalizing the entire process from proposal to construction, internal information sharing improves and you can deliver a service that combines "showing to help them understand" and "measuring to verify."

Thus, LRTK is an excellent entry point for DX in the exterior industry. Start with small projects and try AR proposals using a smartphone + LRTK. You’ll likely find that meetings with homeowners become more engaging and consensus-building speeds up. Embrace new technology to differentiate from competitors and deliver proposals that delight homeowners.

For more information about LRTK, please visit the [LRTK official site](https://www.lrtk.lefixea.com/).