Software Digitally Morphs Faces Closer to Perfection

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4795343.stm' target='_blank'>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4795343.stm</a><br /><br /></div><i>"While digital enhancement has been around for years, subtly airbrushing celebrities and models to make them a bit thinner, less spotty or better endowed, the mere mortal has been resigned to, well, looking like a mere mortal. But new advances in digital enhancement software may mean dodgy snaps could soon be relegated to the photo album of the past. Last week, New Scientist magazine reported on new technology that had been developed by scientists at Tel Aviv University in Israel. Presented at this year's Siggraph conference on computer graphics in Boston, the system transforms photographs of faces into more attractive versions of themselves."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/digital-face-alteration.jpg" /> <br /><br />This is either an affront to the natural beauty of women, and perhaps the most obvious example of how painfully shallow Western society has become - or it's one of the most useful digital photography breakthroughs every developed. Myself, I lean toward the first one: while we all have different standards of beauty, something seems inherently wrong with morphing a human face into something it is not. We've seen examples of this before, of course, where professional retouching technicians alter models for magazine covers. This is quite different though - it's taking your own pictures and altering the female subjects in them to look "better". It seems like a denial of reality to me. I can see it being popular among the Internet dating crowd, at least until the first date bombs because the person didn't look like their morphed image.

[Damion Chaplin]

This is quite different though - it's taking your own pictures and altering the female subjects in them to look "better".

Seems to me it could be used on male subjects too... What about the natural beauty of men, eh? :wink:





Boy, that makes me sound gay, doesn't it?.

[Jason Dunn]

Seems to me it could be used on male subjects too... What about the natural beauty of men, eh?

The current version of the software is designed to only work on female subjects, so...keep dreaming I guess! ;-)

[Damion Chaplin]

Naturally, male programmers would create a version for females first. I mean, those are the pictures we look at right? :wink:

Would the software deem a 5 o'clock shadow unattractive and remove it? How about glasses? Next thing you know, blonde hair will be 'preferred' over brown. I wonder exactly how much control you have over what and how much is changed?

I hear it'll turn your zirconia earrings into real diamonds!

[Chris Gohlke]

I would think it would work on both men and women, after all, I doubt the software can tell the difference. At first glance the other than some color balancing, the only physical difference I can see is that the bags had been removed from the eyes.

[Janak Parekh]

At first glance the other than some color balancing, the only physical difference I can see is that the bags had been removed from the eyes.
Look at the nose. ;)

As for gender: I wonder if it'd be confused by facial hair, etc.

--janak

[Jason Dunn]

I would think it would work on both men and women, after all, I doubt the software can tell the difference.

The article says it only works on female subjects at the moment, likely because all of their sample data that the software is based upon is female. Makes sense to me. I'm sure there will be a male/female mode in the final version.

[Jason Dunn]

As for gender: I wonder if it'd be confused by facial hair, etc.

Heck, I'M confused when I see facial hair on a woman. 8O :lol:

[Chris Gohlke]

I would think it would work on both men and women, after all, I doubt the software can tell the difference.

The article says it only works on female subjects at the moment, likely because all of their sample data that the software is based upon is female. Makes sense to me. I'm sure there will be a male/female mode in the final version.

Sorry, was not precise enough with what I meant to say. I think the software will work on either male or female subject. It would just use the same algorithm on each meaning that a males photo would be altered to match more closely to the predefined feminine "ideals". This could have some entertainment value.