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LouieUsing math to make your photos more beautiful
October 15th 2008 23:50
Sure, you can describe the orbit of the planets, the flow of electrons, devise complicated economic policies, predict where a penny will land, solve for the momentum of a spinning dish, launch a shuttle into space, but what does it mean for me here?
Can math be as beautiful as the luscious form of Monica Belluci? No, it cannot.
Or can it? Researchers in Israel have created a 'beautification' program which takes a photo of a face, then adjusts distances in the features to make it more attractive, using a complicated mathematical algorithm.
Unfortunately, the software isn't perfect and produces odd results. When a photo of Brigitte Bardot was used, the after photo seems to be less striking.
Some critics are incensed at the idea that math could determine what makes beauty:
"Yet, like the many other attempts to use objective principles or even mathematical formulas to define beauty, this software program raises what psychologists, philosophers and feminists say are complex, even disturbing, questions about the perception of beauty and a beauty ideal.
To what extent is beauty quantifiable? Does a supposedly scientific definition merely reflect the ideal of the moment, built from the images of pop culture and the news media?
“How can they prove it?” said Lois W. Banner, a historian who has studied changing beauty standards, referring to scientific efforts to define attractiveness. “They are never going to locate it on a gene. They are never going to get away from the cultural influence.”"
To what extent is beauty quantifiable? Does a supposedly scientific definition merely reflect the ideal of the moment, built from the images of pop culture and the news media?
“How can they prove it?” said Lois W. Banner, a historian who has studied changing beauty standards, referring to scientific efforts to define attractiveness. “They are never going to locate it on a gene. They are never going to get away from the cultural influence.”"
What does this show us? Well, it suggests that there are certain traits that create a more attractive face... it has been well-known that symmetry is important for a face to be attractive, by beyond that, we can't really pin down beauty.
Using software like this suggests that math can help get us along the way, looking at shapes of faces and distances from features, but, as the picture of Bardot suggests, the mathematical algorithm is not without its flaws.
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Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
I drink beer until every female in the pub looks like a hot babe.
One think that they could try with the software is Brigitte Bardot's current image.
Comment by Cibbuano
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