Launch event for Alice Dalí AR: A Rabbit Hole Awaits

A new augmented reality app that will turn a trip to Durham's Botanic Garden into a surrealist sensory experience will be launched on Saturday 4 May.

The Alice Dalí app was originally developed by Dr Mads Haahr and Dr Svetlana Rudenko, who are both affiliated to Trinity College Dublin and Haunted Planet Studios. This is the first time it will be launched in the UK, and will form part of a research collaboration with Dr Kelly Jakubowski in our music department. It was developed with the aim of providing an intergenerational play experience, where children (particularly aged 5-12) are encouraged to seek out the music-art experiences together with their carers.

The free app includes a navigation game in which users search for augmented reality art and music experiences using a radar on their mobile phone screen. It can be downloaded by any visitor to the Botanic Garden, and provides a fun “virtual art exhibit” that can enhance a walk around the garden with an educational and cultural experience. It is based around the story of Lewis Carroll’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The artwork consists of 12 paintings by Salvador Dalí, who painted these for the 1969 edition of Carroll’s book, and the experience includes newly composed piano music by Dr Rudenko alongside narrations from the story itself. Haunted Planet Studios has produced other experiences of this type in Ireland and Denmark, but this is the first one installed in the UK. 

At the free launch event at the Botanic Garden in Durham on Saturday 4 May, attendees will have the opportunity to try the app and meet the designers and scientists behind it.

10.30 -11am  Meet the developers in the Visitor Centre and learn about the inspiration behind the app

11am – 12pm Explore the Botanic Garden and try out the app for yourself