Cyclists and Runners Trace Images on Maps by “GPS Drawing”
A GPS drawing of a character from the Atari 2600 “Pitfall!” game. Image: NY TimesWhen we profiled bicycle related mobile phone applications last month, we clearly thinking creatively enough. The New York Times had a very interesting article yesterday on “GPS Drawing,” which entails using your GPS-enabled phone to trace your running or cycling route on a map in shapes and patterns, such as faces, animals, or computer game figures.
Once the figure is traced, users upload them to sites like everytrail.com and gpsdrawing.com (check out the Dog Drawings video). Jeremy Wood, an artist from London who maintains gpsdrawing.com, uses his GPS phone to trace his every movement while outside, which he has been doing since 2004:
‘People have been doing this for centuries, making big drawings so they could be seen by the gods,’ he said, citing the ancient Nasca geoglyphsin Peru as an example.
I suppose any excuse to get people to explore and appreciate their urban environment is a good thing. Have any readers been GPS Drawing themselves or know of people using these apps for interesting art projects, flash mobs, protests, or other reasons?
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
