Nick Bingham of GAMAR shows how visitors can interact with Lenin… through their phones

GALLERY-GOERS were fist-bumping Lenin and being haunted by a scary 3D skull with a sinister cackle on Tuesday evening when they gathered at St John’s Wood institution the Ben Uri gallery for the launch of a new digital app.

In somewhat surreal scenes, visitors to the art space in Boundary Road could be seen walking around with smartphones and tablets glued to their faces as they explored and interacted with the gallery’s current exhibition, Yalta 1945.

Using augmented reality, app developers GAMAR brought the walls to life as paintings were transformed into moving images and puzzles to help people learn more about the artworks.

Visitors to the gallery using the app including Katryn Brooks with daughter Sarah

Among the crowd was Katryn Brooks, who took a tour of the exhibition using the app with her daughter Sarah. “It was fantastic,” she said. “It was a lot of fun, and very informative. It was a fun experience, and made us want to find out more about the exhibition.”