CheritAR × Think City
How EDT and Think City brought Kuala Lumpur's heritage buildings to life with AI-powered AR avatars — reached by tourists from 12+ countries, zero app downloads required.
Gallery
Project Overview
CheritAR is a WebAR heritage platform developed by EDT in partnership with Think City — an urban regeneration organisation committed to preserving the soul of Kuala Lumpur. The project set out to add a living, digital layer to three of KL's most storied landmarks, letting visitors engage with history in a way that no plaque or pamphlet could replicate.
- Client
- Think City
- Category
- AR Heritage
- Technology
- WebAR · AI · RAG · 8th Wall
- Locations
- 3 KL Heritage Sites
- Delivery
- QR-activated, no app required
Heritage Tourism Needed More Than Static Signage
Kuala Lumpur's heritage district draws visitors from across the world, yet the experience on the ground remained largely unchanged — bronze plaques, printed brochures, and guided tours that not everyone could join. Think City identified a gap: tourists arriving from 12+ countries had no interactive layer through which to discover the stories embedded in the buildings around them.
The brief was ambitious: create an experience that was accessible (no app store friction), multilingual, deeply informed, and above all — memorable. It had to work on any smartphone, survive outdoor conditions, and feel worthy of the landmarks it represented.
The Buildings Speak for Themselves
QR Activation
Visitors scan a QR code mounted at each heritage site. The experience launches instantly in the mobile browser — no app download, no account.
AR Avatar Appears
An AR avatar of the building itself materialises in the camera view — architecturally accurate, animated, and anchored to the real-world location.
RAG-Powered Knowledge
Each landmark speaks in its own voice, drawing answers from a curated Retrieval-Augmented Generation knowledge base of historical archives and cultural records.
Technology Stack
The Three Locations
Sultan Abdul Samad Building
The crown jewel of Dataran Merdeka. The AR avatar narrates the building's transition from colonial administrative centre to a symbol of Malaysian independence.
Victoria Fountain
Built to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, the fountain became a centrepiece of colonial KL. CheritAR reveals the social history surrounding it.
National Textile Museum
Housed in the former Chartered Bank building, the museum holds Malaysia's textile heritage. The AR avatar guides visitors through centuries of craft and culture.
