What Is Graffiti Markup Language (GML)?

We’ve featured Evan Roth’s graffiti projects before. His Graffiti Analysis 2.0 software captures the motions of graffiti artists, digitally maps it, and then creates a 3D model. The way this data is recorded, analyzed, and archived is notated as Graffiti Markup Language (.gml) files. Here’s the overview:

Graffiti Markup Language (.gml) is a universal, XML-based, open file format designed to store graffiti motion data (x-coordinates, y-coordinates, and time). The format is designed to maximize readability and ease of implementation for even hobbyist programmers, artists, and graffiti writers. Popular applications currently implementing GML include Graffiti Analysis and EyeWriter. Beyond storing data, a main goal of GML is to spark interest surrounding the importance (and fun) of open data and introduce open source collaborations to new communities. GML is intended to be a simple bridge between ink and code, promoting collaborations between graffiti writers and hackers. GML is today’s new digital standard for tomorrow’s vandals.