Digital Innovation Lead | Augmented Reality for Land Resumption Engagement
When a state government transport authority resumes land from private property owners to upgrade roads and infrastructure, the process can be overwhelming and deeply emotional for those affected. Communicating complex engineering changes through technical plans on a page was falling short leaving landowners confused, anxious, and disengaged at a moment when clarity and empathy mattered most.
As Digital Maturity Manager, I led an initiative to fundamentally reimagine how the department engaged with customers during land resumptions. Partnering with Telstra, Apple, and an augmented reality specialist, we designed, built, and piloted an AR app for iPad that allowed landowners to see exactly what proposed road changes would mean for their properties visually, in context, and in their own hands.
The pilot was conducted in a regional area where land was being resumed along a major highway corridor. Working with affected farmers, we used the app to demonstrate precisely where road upgrades would occur, how many rows of crops would be lost, how large-scale farming machinery could continue to access the property, and how an eight-metre road elevation would sit in relation to their land. For these landowners, the app translated complex engineering documentation into something they could see, understand, and respond to with confidence.
At the time of development, Apple's AR platform was still in its early stages and this project became one of the first practical, real-world applications of the technology at scale. Apple took direct interest in the project, working closely with our team to ensure the platform could meet the demands of what we were creating.
The app was exceptionally well received, offering transparency, clarity, and genuine empathy during a difficult process. It remains in active use today and has since evolved to support the identification of underground pipes and wiring near road corridors, extending its value well beyond land resumptions and into broader infrastructure planning.
This project demonstrated that emerging technology, when applied with a human-centred purpose, can transform not just an experience but the emotional reality of the people living through it.
Augmented reality land resumption
