Leighton House

Digital interpretation for a historic site without wall labels

Leighton House

Leighton House in Kensington, London, is one of the only purpose-built studio houses open to the public in the United Kingdom and one of the most remarkable buildings of the 19th century.

The Goal

The house museum does not have wall labels to preserve the original style and immersive experience of visiting. Staff want it to feel like a home and not a gallery. However, visitors often have many questions, so additional interpretation was needed to tell the story of Leighton and how the objects on display interact with the home's architecture.

Smartify’s Solution

Staff at Leighton House decided to use Smartify’s object recognition functionality to allow visitors to identify objects (and groups of objects) in the house using their own smartphone camera to access information without cluttering the walls with QR codes.

The Results

Implementing the Smartify app allowed Leighton House to monitor which spaces are more popular with visitors, allowing them to create deep dives into overlooked areas. In just a few months since opening, tours have already been taken over 4000 times, and objects have been viewed on the app over 25,000 times. The team at Leighton House can dynamically update content on the Smartify platform and is now working with Smartify to produce Augmented Reality experiences.

Check out Leighton House on Smartify here.