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Beautification Engine Digital Facial
'Beautification engine' software uses special algorithms to subtly make your face more attractive. Alas, cosmetic surgery addicts, it only works on your digital image.
Software created by researchers at Microsoft and Tel Aviv University in Israel uses data gathered from 68 men and women who viewed male and female faces, picking the faces they thought were more attractive.
Armed with these human preferences, the researchers took 234 measurements between facial features (lips to chin, forehead to eyes, etc.) to find the human ideal.
When provided with a picture of a human face, their software can apply these ideal proportions, remaking the face to bring it closer to what people agree is beautiful (see example in photograph below; picture on left is the starting image).
(Beautification engine grinds away on face)
Science fiction fans recall the video-manicuring program from Bruce Sterling's 1985 novel Schismatrix:
Lindsay had a brief glimpse of the man's true appearance - white hair in spiky disarray, red-rimmed eyes - before a video-manicuring program came on line. The program raced up the screen one scan line at a time, subtly smoothing, deleting and coloring.
(Read more about Sterling's video-manicuring program)
Fans of the face may also enjoy these articles:
- Software Helps Computers Find Attractive Women
The computer was able to determine a standard of beauty that is similar to that developed by people. - AlterEgo Facial Performance And Emotional AIs
Give massive artificial intelligences what they've been lacking so far - a convincing human face. - Future Face - The Principal Eigenface?
Will the widespread use of digital enhancement to "improve" faces in photographs suggest the kind of face that people will have in the future?
From NY Times.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/9/2008)
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