Graffiti Art Goes Digital

Is it still considered graffiti if it doesn't stick to a wall? Scottish scientists have created a program for mobile phones that allows users to uncover virtual artworks posted around their city. Unveiled at the Siggraph computer-graphics show in San Diego, the technology, called Spellbinder, operates using image-matching algorithms. As the title suggests, the graffiti is invisible to the naked eye. When a digital image of a building is sent via MMS to a special server, “powerful image-matching algorithms” determine which building it is and send back an image with a bunch of added digital content - the “graffiti.” NYC street-art group Graffiti Research Lab has been running its own experiments with digital graffiti.