The beauty machine

November 6, 2008 The beauty machine

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Samples of photographs manipulated by TAU's "Beauty Machine." Original photographs in top row; manipulated photographis in bottom row. Credit: AFTAU

Our mothers told us that true beauty is more than skin deep — but researchers from Tel Aviv University are now challenging Mom.

They've built a beauty machine that, with the press of a button, turns a picture of your own ordinary face into that of a cover model. While its output is currently limited to digitized images, the software may be able to guide plastic surgeons, aid magazine cover editors, and even become a feature incorporated into all digital cameras.

"Beauty, contrary to what most people think, is not simply in the eye of the beholder," says lead researcher Prof. Daniel Cohen-Or of the Blavatnik School of Computer Sciences at Tel Aviv University. With the aid of computers, attractiveness can be objectified and boiled down to a function of mathematical distances or ratios, he says. This function is the basis for his beauty machine.

In the Eyes of a Majority of Beholders

The research has attracted interest and controversy. Beauty is, after all, a quality that has captivated artists since time immemorial, and its definition has eluded even the world's greatest philosophers. Prof. Cohen-Or sees things more scientifically.

"Beauty can be quantified by mathematical measurements and ratios. It can be defined as average distances between features, which a majority of people agree are the most beautiful," says Prof. Cohen-Or. "I don't claim to know much about beauty. For us, every picture in this research project is just a collection of numbers."

In his study, published recently in the proceedings of Siggraph, an annual computer graphics conference, Prof. Cohen-Or and his graduate student Tommer Leyvand –– together with two colleagues –– surveyed 68 Israeli and German men and women, aged 25 to 40, asking them to rank the beauty of 93 different men's and women's faces on a scale of 1 to 7. These scores were then entered into a database and correlated to 250 different measurements and facial features, such as ratios of the nose, chin and distance from ears to eyes. From this, the scientists created an algorithm that applies desirable elements of attractiveness to a fresh image.

True to the Real You

Unlike heavily processed Photoshop images that can make magazine cover models and celebrities unrecognizable, Tel Aviv University's "beautification engine" is much more subtle. Observers say that the final image it produces retains an unmistakable similarity to the original picture.

Well — in most cases. There is one circumstance where Prof. Cohen-Or's beauty machine doesn't work like a charm: when a celebrity's face is changed.

"We've run the faces of people like Brigitte Bardot and Woody Allen through the machine and most people are very unhappy with the results," he admits. "But in unfamiliar faces, most would agree the output is better." Prof. Cohen-Or now plans on developing the beauty machine further -- to add the third dimension of depth.

Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University


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  • Quantum_Conundrum - Nov 06, 2008
    • Rank: 3 / 5 (7)
    to be honest, before I read the caption, I couldn't tell which set of photos was the original, and which was doctored.

    Epic Phail.
  • ShadowRam - Nov 06, 2008
    • Rank: 4 / 5 (1)
    ^^ Same here, evening knowing now, I can see slight differences, but as far as one being better looking than the above. I don't see it.
  • bmcghie - Nov 06, 2008
    • Rank: 4 / 5 (1)
    I agree. I notice the eyebrows get flattened a bit, the forehead is enlarged... but beyond that?? I couldn't decide which was the original either, before reading the caption.
  • MGraser - Nov 06, 2008
    • Rank: 4 / 5 (1)
    The girl on the right has a thinner nose, more balanced lips, and a rounded face. The middle girl has a thinner nose, slightly fuller lips, and...slightly wider space eyes. I'm sure I've missed other things. The effects are very subtle.
  • sleidia - Nov 06, 2008
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (4)
    Before I read the caption, I assumed that the manipulated images were on top because they are the one I find better. Either they got the caption wrong or I'm a freak!
  • Quantum_Conundrum - Nov 06, 2008
    • Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
    Before I read the caption, I assumed that the manipulated images were on top because they are the one I find better. Either they got the caption wrong or I'm a freak!


    No, acutally, if anything, after having looked at the images several times, the top middle is definitely the one I find most attractive.
  • Arikin - Nov 06, 2008
    • Rank: 4 / 5 (1)
    It would be interesting to apply this to another software in this area. The other software takes your face and changes it into the opposite gender. Then apply this software.

    People are also attracted to faces similar to their own. So would an opposite gender version of yourself averaged out by this software make it more attractive?
  • Eco_R1 - Nov 06, 2008
    • Rank: 1 / 5 (3)
    top ...bottom...they are all butt ugly!
  • A_Paradox - Nov 07, 2008
    • Rank: 3.3 / 5 (3)
    So why is Prof. Daniel Cohen-Or doing this? To make money? If so, I think he and his mates will. But it occurs to me that evil is what happens when a person is treated as a thing.

    So what are these guys "fixing"? If it ain't bust DON'T fix it! On the other hand if you want a system for recreating a face for burns victims and so forth, yeah this is great.

    I, like others above, didn't know which were "more beautiful" till I read the text. Now I look and think the top row photos all seem perhaps a bit more worried looking. But maybe that is just a reflexion of the fact that the undoctored photos represent what the women look like when they are thinking of the implications of this kind of thing. In other words their personality is showing through whereas down below they have advanced towards clonedom.
  • dbsi - Nov 07, 2008
    • Rank: not rated yet
    I would apply a very inexpensive brain function called SMILE, may be induced by the program SAY SOMETHING NICE, to create a third row and see how that compares!
  • superhuman - Nov 07, 2008
    • Rank: not rated yet
    Beauty is simply the average. It is the average of all the faces you have seen, so its individual to some extent. It also makes sense as the women who looks most average has the least probability to have some unwanted gens that are not beneficial to the species (since beneficial genes are spread widely).

    That was the first approximation which accounts for most of the "beauty" but there is some more to but only in individuals case as it averages out in larger group. If you have many almost average or in other words pretty faces there is a subtle effect which influences which particular you will pick.
    In all probability it is the incentive to look for traits which will compensate your own ones to again produce the average in the child. This part is much harder to study of course.
  • drel - Nov 07, 2008
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
    I noticed the difference and know that the bottom row was the after images (not that I agree with the claims)
    There ate 2 things about the new images that jumped out at me. The faces are more oval and bilateral symmetry is increased. Notice the hairline on the middle face. See how her right side has been raised (or left side lowered) in the new image. In the right hand image notice how the eyes and eyebrows in the new image are now even with one another (her right eye is not lower than the left) and her lips are now symmetric).

    Symmetry implies good genes and oval face is the "classic" facial shape.

    Personally I prefer the upper left, either in the middle and the lower right image.
    The lower left looks "made up" and I prefer the natural look that the before image has.
    As I said before the lack of symmetry in the eyes (and the lack of symmetry in the lips) of the face in the upper right make her looks less than desirable.

    Having said all that I must clearly state that physical appearance in a still image is only a small portion of what makes one attractive. How you move, how you carry yourself, vocal tone and what you say, how you say it, knowledge, and interests all components of charisma and are all very important to the big picture.
  • Lord_jag - Nov 07, 2008
    • Rank: not rated yet
    Personally the two on the outside look better before the mods to me.

    Just my opinion.
  • Keter - Nov 07, 2008
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
    All of the girls are pretty to begin with - what would this do with a truly unfortunate looking person, perhaps someone with a disfigurement?
  • superwoman - Nov 08, 2008
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
    you all read this short article and judging it based on one image. Why don't you search and learn a bit more about it:
    http://www.cs.tau...ication/

    It is a serious and cool science, even though we all don't like to be rated according to our beauty...

    We can all claim that beauty is not important, but in our daily life we act differently, sad facts of life.

November 6, 2008 all stories

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