Piccadilly Circus in 1953 and present-day as seen on the Museum of London's Streetmuseum app

Many museums are making use of modern technology to engage with visitors and bring their exhibits to life.

Some are also doing a great job of utilising modern aids to take history out of its walled confines and into the wider world.

The best example of this is the Museum of London, which has created three superb smartphone apps that really bring the past into the present.

The first is Streetmuseum, which uses hundreds of images from the museum’s vast collection that can be accessed in-app via a Google map.

The really clever thing with the app is the 3D-view augmented reality feature, which overlays historic photos on to the modern-day view seen through your phone’s camera.

An advanced Roman-themed version of this app has also been released in the form of Streetmuseum: Londinium, which uses a map to direct users to Roman sites, and also features video and audio.

Users can even “excavate” artefacts by swiping their fingers across the screen to remove dirt.

The third Museum of London app, Dickens: Dark London, is a narrated graphic novel which follows the author on his night walks through the capital.

A map of featured locations can be switched between an 1862 version and modern-day form.

Streetmuseum can be downloaded for iPhone and Android, while Londinium and the Dickens app are currently only available to iPhone and iPad users.